Infinity Chains
by All that is good51
Summary: Naruto Uzumaki, Shinobi extraordinaire and a badass while being awesome at the same time. Inside, he's just a confused boy who is driven by his ambition to become great. Let's see if he could be truly great while surrounded by forces he had never seen before. Will he be intact, like an imperishable chain link or will he rust and crumble to scrap? A test story for now. See inside.
1. Cold awakening

**A/N: This is just a test story, I am not going to make it into an official one if it doesn't get positive views or any views at all. Please, feel free to tell me if you want me to continue this in the reviewer's section.**

* * *

"Marisa… don't just stay at another person's house just because you want to get some warmth…" a female, if not young, voice muttered out in an irate manner. Her eyes, a deep shade of brown with a hint of black in them glared annoyingly at her guest. Guest is not the correct term to describe Marisa, she's more like an uninvited guest if one would say.

"Aw don't be like that Reimu, you can't let a girl freeze out there can you, ze?" said person is Marisa, she is by no means similar to the other girl Reimu. One could say that they are both the perfect embodiment of both water and oil, both can never ever mix. But they are the two incident solvers of Gensokyo, one would wonder how they put up with each other's attitude.

Reimu shivered, even under the cover of a warm kotatsu, it is still cold. It's winter in Gensokyo, and thankfully, it's not because of a certain ghost decided to steal spring away or because of a certain snow woman decided to make it snow forcibly. It is all an act of nature, the simplicity of beauty itself.

Reimu is a very famous person, everyone in Gensokyo knows her. From the decent population of humans to the majority population of Youkais… there's none that does not know her. If one were to know her, then one would also know her extremely short temper. It's not like she gets mad easily, she gets annoyed easily. And if she's annoyed, she won't hesitate to express it.

Marisa however, is an easy going person. She's easy going, yet brash and wild when needs to be… Okay, she is brash and wild most of the time. But if she has a day off or two, she would hit the forest to relax by gathering mushrooms or just doing what she's doing. Bugging Reimu and mooching off her poor little soul.

The girl dressed in red and white groaned, hugging her frame. "Maaah… it's so cold… hey, don't you have some fire spells that could warm me up or something?" she asked the witch, not bothering to look at her. She's freezing cold, it's almost like the kotatsu is no use. She rests her head on the wooden surface of the kotatsu, trying to get some heat to her head.

Marisa, much to Reimu's annoyance, is doing the same thing as her. she is resting her head on the kotatsu's wooden surface, trying to absorb as much heat as she can. But even in her state, she managed to answer the other girl. "Some of the fire spells that I know will only burn you shrine to dust, but I'm sure that you can warm yourself up just fine. Or too fine."

Reimu sighed. "Useless witch…" muttered the shrine maiden under hear breath. Even if Marisa heard it, Reimu doesn't care. Both are too cold to argue anyway. "Maybe we should go to hell, bet it's all warm and cozy down there."

"Warm, cozy and moist. Might be a good idea if you're willing to sweat like a pig in the slaughter." The black white witch said her opinion. "Besides, ain't it better to just light the stove or something? This table ain't working…"

"Nah, too lazy. You do it."

"No you do it."

"Nah, you do it."

"No, you do it."

.

.

.

"Sigh…" both sighed simultaneously, feeling tired just by arguing a few words. "I hate the cold." Both muttered at the same time again. "Sigh…"… and sighs at the same time, again.

Marisa thought that the Scarlet Devil Mansion would be a great choice, bet it's all warm and cozy there. The vampire brat sure is lucky, having a huge mansion, maids at her disposal, warm clothing, cool library, awesome spell cards… if she could steal everything, she knows who she'll be stealing from first. But it's too bad that she's only limited to what she could carry right now.

Reimu just sits there as blank as paper. She just did not know what to do. She's too lazy to get out, she got no food, she got no money and she got no nosy Youkai to deal with. It's at times like these where she hopes that a Youkai is courageous and dumb enough to start an incident. She'll show the poor little miserable sod a beating, take her money as payment, and have a warm cup of tea with some rice crackers.

But sadly, that ain't happening.

Both girls are just in a dilemma of not having anything to do. Some Youkais sure have it easy, they all hibernate when certain season comes. Yuuka hibernates every winter, so she doesn't have to put up with all the cold and stuff. And it's not like her flowers would die anyway. If only humans hibernate too, which will be extremely convenient for both Reimu and Marisa. Just think of all the hour, days, weeks of sleep that they could get… yeah, that's the life.

But sadly, they're stuck with whatever live they're having right now.

Being labeled as a thief, something that only irked Marisa slightly, is actually fine. Sure, she steals. Sure, she got people on her hide whenever she does that. And sure, she'll beat the crap out of anyone who tries to steal back from her. But will she return all the junk that she borrowed? Yep. She'll die anyway, after all she's only human. She isn't a Youkai, so there's no wrong in borrowing things that she'll eventually return, right?

As the Hakurei Miko, Reimu should be getting all the good rep she deserves. But that does not seem possible when the miko is a lazy, unmotivated and short tempered girl with no intention in doing what she's supposed to be doing. The way she works might be different from her ancestors, but that doesn't mean that she's neglecting her job. Seriously, people these days don't know the difference between lazy and trying to do something in the easiest possible way.

The two girls are still in their own little thoughts, they failed to notice what is approaching outside.

* * *

"Ugh… Where… am I…?"

Azure eyes snapped open, greeted by the sight of a cloudy sky. The pair of eyes blinked, seeing small white flakes coming down from the sky. "It's… It's snowing…?" weird, Konoha does not snow. The owner of said eyes tried to push his body up from the ground, he managed with difficulty. As soon as he is on his feet, he dropped to a knee, feeling a sharp pain on his shoulders. Looks like things just doesn't heal as fast as he thought.

He is dressed only in a t-shirt with an orange jacket over it, the jacket provides him with suitable warmth for the cold climate that he's in. His stature isn't that tall, a standard height for most adolescent. His face clearly shows his age, still with the slight amount of baby fat present but his built, however, is not normal.

Normally, teenagers of his age should be so well built. It's like he'd just gone through a professional body building training. Even with the thickness of the jacket he's wearing, his muscles made the jacket tighter, letting people see the obvious emphasize on his well-built body. The boy's hair is the perfect embodiment of a mane, wild and untamed. People suggested for him to cut his hair shorter, seeing that it will only hinder him in his line of work. But hey, he's still alive and kicking.

The boy looked around, but he's unable to see clearly due to the small blizzard hindering his vision. The blonde covers his eyes with his hands, trying on not to get hindered by the blizzard. The cold is getting unbearable and he's starting to lose feeling of his legs. He'll need to find shelter and make fire quick, or else he'll die from hypothermia, which is one of the lamest way to die there is.

And it's not like he can die anyway. He can't die, not until he kills his target.

"Shit…" the boy cursed, still within the blizzard's unforgiving climate. "I can't fucking see…" he started to made his way up ahead, making do with the situation. He is low on chakra, seeing that he had just used them all before he got here. Speaking of here, where this place anyway? And was he unconscious? The only place where there's blizzard is Snow Country, but it's not possible for him to just get transported here from a fight.

He continues to prowl through the thick snow, enduring the cold and pain. With heavy steps, he made his way through the trees, ending at a clearing. The clearing is covered in snow, and the blizzard is even harsher here. The blonde haired boy gritted his teeth, he really needs to get shelter fast or else he'll really die from a freaking cold. He channeled whatever chakra he had left to his feet, allowing him to travel faster in the snow.

He runs, run as fast as he can, trying to get out of the blizzard. He just hopes that he's not going deeper into this freaking storm, that'll suck donkey balls. His feet are starting to feel numb, real numb. Whose idea is it to not let ninjas wear socks? He'll beat the shit out of the fella if he met him. Trudging through the snow, he's like a walking snow prowler. His chakra enhanced feet makes him lighter and able to maneuver easily in the snow.

He had been running for a while now, and still no sign of this blizzard stopping. It's either finding a place to rest, or people. The former is always better, since what good is a person if they're suffering from what he's suffering right now? He stepped for another four meters, and as he was about to make his next step, he noticed that there's nothing for him to step on. The boy's alarm went off, but his body could not react fast enough. He just literally stepped into a huge drop, and now he's falling like a bird frozen in mid air.

"OH SHIIIIIIIIIIIT!"

He fell down the drop, it's a high one, and his body is restricted due to the numbness. He can't move his arms as freely as he wants them to, and his legs are useless by now. As he continues to fall down to his impending doom, he was fortunately, if not too fortunate, saved by a tree. His back hits the top tip of the tree, and he swear that he got something stuck to his back. He fell down the tree, crashing to branches and other shorter trees. It's ridiculous, and he's glad that no one he knows is here is to watch him fall comically down from a tree.

"OOF!" He landed roughly, face first, to the snow. It's not the face that bothers him, but it's the stick and splinters that he got all over his back. He got a medium wooden branch pierced his back, thankfully his spine was not hit and it did not pierce as deep as much to call it fatal. "Kuh…! Just… fucking… great…" struggling to his feet, the boy muster up all his will to ignore the piercing pain that he's feeling.

With the pain, cold and numbness, his movements are getting hindered greatly. He is forced to drag his left leg since it's completely numb. Screw it about finding shelter, he needs to make do with the environment. But with what? This is another clearing, there's not much but withered trees and such around here. The boy looked around, looking for an ideal place to rest. Thankfully, the blizzard is not as wild as it is up there. After doing a quick survey, he found a large tree but there's nothing he could do in this state. With his mind and body troubled and hindered, he is forced to move forward again.

With an undying will to survive, the boy drags his way out of the blizzard. He came to see a large stair leading up to a hill. "Stairs, people!" he immediately concluded. He ran up the stairs, not wasting any time. He could feel the anticipation rising in his chest, he'll be able to get help right away. After climbing up the stairs, he ends up in this courtyard like place, there's this building in front of him. He looked back, seeing a red Torii gate placed in display. This is a shrine. The boy shook his head, it's no matter if it's a shrine or a morgue. As long as there're people, he's safe.

He did what any person in his position would do, he dashed straight for the door, not giving a flying fuck on whoever lives there.

So he reached the door, slides it open and launched himself inside.

"Kyaaaa!"

…Well, at least he found someone.

* * *

**Later…**

* * *

"Urgh… the hell am I…?"

"Oh, you're awake."

"Wakey, wakey ze!"

Waking up, with his feet and other body parts losing their numbness, his eyes opened groggily. Slowly, he began to feel conscious again, and his vision is rebooted. When his eyes are fully open, his vision is filled with a brown wooden ceiling of a house and two faces of women that he had never seen before in his entire life. Like any other reasonable person, he was surprised and instinctively pushes himself away from the two women.

"Holy fucking hell! Two bitches from hell decided to haunt me when I'm dead!" The boy, who appears to be younger than the two women, yelled out in a sudden surprise. The cursing and profanities he used seemed to have irked one of the two girls, while the other just laughed at his reaction. "Stay back! I ain't old enough for tits and tats!" he used his arms defensively, causing different reaction from the two women.

"Hahahaha! This boy's funny ze!" the girl with the funny hat began rolling her body on floor, taking whatever space that was left in the small living room. Her laughter is purely from amusement, and she seemed to have not taken any offense from the boy's cursing.

The same can't be said for the other girl though, the one who's showing her armpits brazenly. On her expression is an expression of someone who's restraining her anger by a hair's breadth. Her face is twitching so much that it could transform any moment. This goes unnoticed by the two blondes, but unfortunately for the boy, he noticed.

"…So, you guys are not going to molest me…?"

"LIKE HELL WE WILL!" The red and white wearing girl could not contain her suppressed anger anymore. She burst out, like a bubble filled with hot air. Her face all red, and it's not due to embarrassment mind you. She's clearly been holding off her rage button like a mad person. "You, tell us who you are or else I'll dump you outside in the cold!"

The boy rises up from the covers, stretching his limbs to get them working again. He then sits down again, scratching the back of his head without a single care in the world. However, he still answers the girl. "Uzumaki Naruto, the most badass person you'll ever find in the whole motherfucking world." He introduced with no bit of shame. His thumb is jabbed to his chest, and his lips stretched to a smirk.

"Ooh! Ooh! Super cool introduction, me next!" all heads turned towards the black and white wearing girl. The blonde female gives a thumbs up, her lips stretched to a smirk that could rival her fellow blonde. "Kirisame Marisa da ze, an Ordinary Witch of Gensokyo." Her manner of introduction is the same as the boy's but a little bit less cocky.

"And I'm Hakurei Reimu, an OWNER of this shrine." The girl gave the boy a sharp glare, and she emphasized the word 'owner' to let the boy know that he's inside her property.

But unfortunately, her introduction didn't get much reaction from the boy. "Psh, yeah right." he scoffed, but believing what Reimu said. "Anyway, now that we're all aware of each other's name… could you two please tell me where the fuck I'm at right now?" the boy asked with honest confusion in his tone. Though his face might show that he doesn't have a single thing to care about, he really needs his question answered.

It seems like his question managed to calm Reimu down. Said shrine maiden sighed, placing a hand on her forehead. "Not another one…" she uttered as if it is a catastrophe.

The other girl, who calls herself a witch or Marisa just as she had introduced herself as, grins. "Wow, you outsiders sure like Gensokyo, whatcha do over at your home, huh?"

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked further, wanting to know why they're normal with people barging through their doors. "You peeps are okay with people rushing in your shrines or something?"

"No, we're not okay. What we're okay with is when people like you starting to act polite for a second." Her heated glare has no effect or whatsoever to Naruto. "So, what's your story? What do you want to know?" she raised her hands, before letting the boy answer. "No, let me answer it for you. You are transported here by a hole filled with eyes and you want to return home, correct?"

"Nope and yes, I didn't get transported here from a freaky hole filled with eyes. But I'm sure as hell about wanting to return though." Shrugged the blonde haired boy. At his answer, he noticed the look of surprise on the girls' face. "What, is it normal for you people to have people transported here through a hole filled with eyes?"

The look of surprise vanished out of Reimu's face, replaced with a serious one. "Unfortunately, yes. You outsiders, the term that we made for people like you, have been popping in Gensokyo lately. There're too many of you for comfort. I swear, if that gap hag is awake right now, I'll force her to send each and every one of you home in a sin sack…"

"Welp, there's nothing you can do about getting Yukari to wake up. It's not like we know where she lives anyway, she's like… the most mysterious person in Gensokyo, not even Nazrin could find her." Marisa joined the conversation casually. "So shorty, tell us your story?"

"Fine…" the boy in orange shrugged, it's not like they'll take advantage of him anyway. "Okay, so before I came here, I was being chased. These mask men, they're bad, real bad. They've been chasing after my ass for about a week, and I've been avoiding for so long. But due to me being awesome and shit, I managed to send their bodies back home in a body bag. But, I was also careless." At this point, he's speaking in a stressed manner. "They had their leader with them, that fucking war hawk Danzo. Old bitch was old, but he's smart. Evil too. I swear if there's anything more corrupted than a politician in acid, it's Danzo."

"So, uh… anyway, I fought him. It was too easy, I mean, I know the man isn't as good as he was when he was younger, but that bastard is full of dirty little secrets. I pushed him to a point where he must reveal those little secrets of him. Taken by surprise, he managed to hit me with this illusion shit. I remembered getting angry, so fucking angry… and people know that, when I'm angry, shit started to get real. Long story short, he somehow managed to send me here using a jutsu, fucking bastard used a dimensional transportation technique, if I'm correct, to send me here." The boy settled in the information while breathing. "Whatever forbidden technique that he used, it's a strong one. I don't know if it's permanent or not."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa…" Marisa stood from her seat. "So what you're saying is that you, a person who's being chased by a shady organization led by this mad old man was send here by the same old man using a dimensional transportation technique?" her voice is in disbelief.

"Yup, what? Is it really that strange?" Naruto looked at her weirdly.

"Of course it is!" the witch stressed out. "Look here guy, people who could use those kinds of… things are usually very powerful people around here. Hell this gap hag we were talking about just now also uses a form of dimensional transportation thingy." She revealed. "She just made a gap appeared in the air and when she enters them, she could be anywhere in the part of the world just like that."

Naruto has to admit, this gap hag is pretty awesome. "Wow, this hag you're talking about is awesome." He said with a smile, feeling the want to meet whoever this old lady is. When he thinks deeper, he should probably be searching for whoever this hag is. If she can be in any parts of the world just by stepping into a gap in the air, then she could most likely send him back to Konoha. The thought of not hitting that bastard Danzo in the face is uncomfortable, he can't wait to do just that.

"Okay." Naruto started. "Now that you two sugars know a little about me, it's time for me to know a little about you. So tell me, what the heck is this place?"

Instead of Marisa who speaks, it's Reimu. Maybe it's because she felt left out in the conversation. "I'm going to be short and crude about this. Basically, Gensokyo is a place where monster like creatures live." She said, not expecting him to get what she meant.

"Okay."

"Righ- wait what?" Reimu did a double take. "Okay? Just like that?" she can't believe this boy. First he barged into her door with Cirno level of coldness and now he's fine when hearing that this place is filled with monsters?

"Sure, monsters are normal right? By monsters you meant people who need their asses handed to them in the worst possible ways, right?"

Reimu slumped down, feeling strangely relieved that the boy did not get what she meant. Even if she's relieved, she is annoyed at the same time. "No… look, these 'monsters' are Youkai. Though most look human, they aren't. We're both humans just in case you're wondering." Reimu is obviously referring to both her and Marisa. "They're strong, each are unique and you're spot on right about them being people who needed their asses handed to them. But only the ones who decided to act… daringly."

Naruto was hit by realization. "Ah… so what you're telling me is that this place is a Youkai infested worm hole and that these Youkais caused problem every now and then?"

"If you put it that way…"

Naruto looked pissed for a second. "You expect me to fucking believe that?!" he stands suddenly. "I'm gonna go outside and find me some Youkais, then I'll believe what you said." He leaves the room without saying any excuses, acting rude definitely.

"Oi, don't just go out there you idiot, you'll die!" But Reimu's yelling fell on deaf ears. The boy was already halfway across the courtyard. Then she saw him jumping down the hill instead of using the stairs to climb down. "That idiot!" she zoomed away from the door, following the orange wearing blonde.

"Oh! This is getting interesting ze, better see how this turns out." Marisa said excitingly. She grabbed a nearby wooden pole which is actually a broom if one were to look carefully. She did what any other person would find silly. She placed the broom right underneath, so that she's 'riding' it. This might look silly if not for the fact that she had just took off to the skies, following after her partner.

* * *

**With Naruto…**

* * *

"Here Youkai, Youkai, Youkai! Come out now, don't be shy, I know it's cold but I'm sure that you want to attack a helpless and defenseless human like me, right?" mocking, taunting or straight up talking shit about his enemies had done a great job to provoke them for Naruto. One thing he knew, is that people tends to get dumber when they're angry. But since what he's looking for is a Youkai, he's not sure if that fact is useful or not.

He looked around, currently surrounded by the winter's forest and snow. "As expected, there's nothing here. Guess that armpit showing miko was lying after all… what kind of shit she was smoking anyway?" he turned to leave, until he felt a menacing presence from behind him. He is sensitive to killing intent, and the stronger it is, the more he's able to feel them. And the one he's feeling right now is definitely strong. "Okay, whoever you are come out now or I'll drag your ass all the way here with my own arms."

He was not answered, only the cold and chilling wind blowing pass through him. With narrowed eyes, Naruto focused his vision on where he felt the presence before. It was right beneath the trees, the snow is too thick for him to see so fighting will be a little hard. "Come out shit stain, I promise I won't be too rough on ya." His taunting caused more activity to happen around him. The sound of trees rustling from behind him and the sound of wooden branches cracking as if they're being stepped on are the constant noise he's hearing. He is limited only to his auditory sensor, the wind and snow are getting too harsh for him to see.

"Idioot! Don't just barge away like that you could've-" Reimu, who had just arrived on the scene, was planning to shout at the boy for doing something stupid. But she was silence by the boy.

"Shhh! Don't fucking speak, I got something after me." Reimu took note of the serious tone he's using. She too looked around, after a while, she felt a familiar presence approaching closer. "Say, are these Youkais… neutral?" Naruto asked in a hushed tone. They might be attacked any moment, but knowing the enemy is better than anything else.

"Some are, most are not dumb enough to attack without announcing their names." Reimu answer.

"Holy hell that's dumb."

Rustling could be heard even more, this time the source came only from one direction. Both male and female prepared for anything to rise up and attack them, Naruto focused his mind and eyes on the direction, his hands inching for the pouch that he had on his back. Reimu materialized three needles, holding them each in the gap of her fingers. Naruto's eyes widen. "HERE IT COMES!"

"ROOOOOOAAAH!" big, fluffy and ugly just emerged charging through the trees. Reimu flies to safety, while Naruto skillfully dodges to the sidelines. Bringing himself back to his feet, he got a good look on whatever this creature is. The creature is brown, dirty, in color. It is as large as a bear, but it isn't a bear. It's a wild boar from the looks of it, but the fact that this wild boar is the same size of a bear amazes Naruto. There's something different about this boar, Reimu could already notice that. She looked, analyzing the boar further.

"Watch out!" she screamed, warning Naruto of the incoming danger. The blonde did not have to be warned, he was already anticipating an attack of some sort from the boar. The boar charges right at the blonde with great speed, but it is like snail for Naruto. He faced opponents, who are humans, much faster than the speed the boar is using. If he were to compare the boar's speed to a ninja, let's just say that it would insult whoever it is that he's comparing the boar's speed with.

With agile and skillful skill, Naruto jumped high in the sky, everything slows down for him, he could see the exposed back of the boar. Flicking his wrist, a kunai materialized from the hidden mechanism that was installed from his right sleeve. He landed on the boar's back while jamming the kunai using the force of the force. It caused a rather painful reaction from the boar. The boar screeched, it began trashing, planning to get the shinobi out of its back. It's like a mad bull instead of a boar, trying to get Naruto off from its back.

But Naruto maintained a strong grip on the boar, he used whatever strength he had in his body to hold on to the boar. He kept on stabbing the boar repeatedly with the kunai, it came to a point where he's forced to use chakra to enhance the kunai to make it sharper. "Suck on this piggy!" he jammed the kunai straight to the boar's skull, emitting a pained squeal from the boar. The boar twists and turns, finally launching the orange wearing blonde from its back. Naruto is holding into a bloodied kunai, the blood quickly staining the white sheet of snow covering the land. He crashed to a tree, so he's bot feeling to well if he were to talk about his back.

Naruto brought himself to his feet, popping his neck while massaging his back. But he did not have the luxury to keep on tending to his aching body parts. The boar came rushing towards him, this time faster than before. Naruto only had little time to react, but he managed to avoid on getting squished to paste. He landed on a nearby tree branch, gasping and panting. "It's not dead? The fuck it's made of?" he was suddenly hit in the back of his head, courtesy of Reimu. "OW!"

"You idiot! Don't you know that what you were doing before could be considered as suicide?! You could've become mocha right away!" Reimu did not hesitate to scream her hearts out. "Look, that boar is possessed, and the only way of getting the evil spirit that possesses it is by exorcising it, so step back and let me do the work." The girl told him off before rushing off deal with the spirit possessed boar. She rushes down, swooping like a bird to its prey.

"She's flying…?" was the only thing that's in Naruto's mind when he saw Reimu zooming straight for the boar with great speed. "Holy shit she is flying!" he could not believe his eyes. This is the first time he saw someone fly without the use of chakra, and even if she had, he's not sure if she's able to use it for flying. He saw Reimu making these two red and white orbs appear beside her, floating next to her. What blew his mind is that those orbs are shooting glowing purple needles out from them. The ugly swine is barraged with needles, but they all shatter on impact. It's almost as if they're too brittle to cause any damage. But what's this? The boar is getting pushed back by the attack that Reimu's using.

"Tch… this spirit is a stubborn one…" Reimu pulled out an ofuda from her sleeves, she swooshed closer towards the boar, but limited only to a little space since the forest she's fighting in is quite narrow. When she gets to a suitable distance, she launched the ofuda at the boar, it attached itself on the boar's forehead. Reimu made a strange gesture with her fingers. **"Hakurei exorcism method: Holy Bindings!"** the ofuda glows a vibrant gold color, it spreads throughout the boar's body, enveloping it in paper ofudas entirely. It looks like a paper model of giant wild boar instead of a boar. The beast ceased moving, Reimu sighed in relief. That could've ended worse.

She floats down the air, touching ground once more. She looked at the talisman covered boar, patting it. She noticed that a person is approaching her, and that person is none other than Naruto. Naruto walked slowly towards the miko, whistling. "Damn… that's one badass stuff you got there… is this how you people deal with shit around here?"

"More or less. But usually, it's not animals who does this kind of things. Evil spirits either possess them since they have a very weak mind." Reimu explained briefly. "You believe me now?" she looked at the boy.

Naruto raised his hands. "Okay calm your panties woman, sure, I believe you. But still… shit like this is too much for me to take." He said honestly. Seeing a giant wild boar is not normal itself, let alone going head to head with a possessed boar. "So… how does the spirit get out from these things?"

"They don't. I'm just restricting their movements completely, if this doesn't work well then I'm really exorcising it." The girl huffed, crossing her arms. "What were you going to do anyway? I doubt that a person like you could do anything aside from jumping out from harm's way."

"Okay, congrats you've pissed me off." He grabbed the girl by the collar, glaring into her eyes. Both are glaring into each other, not liking each other's attitude one bit. "You want to go a round to find out what I can do? I'll gladly hand your little ass over to you upside down when I'm done with you." The boy threatened in anger. Reimu managed to slap his hands away, stepping away from the male.

"Hmph, even if you were able to do anything, I doubt that you'll stop that boar."

"Okay, that's it." He was about to step forward, until a deep growl stopped him right away. Both his and Reimu's eyes are glued to the paper covered boar who is shaking as if it were about it were about to burst. Unfortunately, it did not burst. Instead, it is finally free from the talismans. It roars, before charging aimlessly. If one were to notice, there is a black haze clouding the boar's eyes, the stage of possession has increased it seems… both Reimu and Naruto managed to get to safety, the former flies to the sky while the latter jumped to a nearby branch.

"The fuck bitch, I thought that those papers are more than enough to hold this shit?" Naruto voiced out his thoughts in annoyance. "If you can't fucking handle this, then let me." He jumped down, charging for the boar.

"Wait, stop it you fool!"

"I ain't gonna let some half assed shrine bitch do all the ass kicking around here." Naruto said loudly, yes, Reimu managed to hear him. He extends his hands, spreading them spread eagle. The area of the fight has been increased to the boar's trashing before, it cleared some trees away, making the space for fighting larger. This is now his win, calling it a win would be too underclassed.

He owns this place.

"**Uzumaki: Kusari."** Chains. Chains from pure red energy wrapped themselves around Naruto's right and left hand. The chains are wrapped around his arms, in a manner that would be painful to most but not to him. Red energy is leaking out of his body, soon, more chains started to appear like tentacles from his back, protruding as if they're ready to strike at any moment. "You've escaped papers before, let's see how you'll escape my chains!" he extends his arms forward and instantly, the chains began extending themselves towards the boar as it has a mind of its own. The sharp edge and end of the chains are like small daggers, being able to pierce the boar effectively in the guts.

What's more, the chains are strong enough to lift the boar to the air. Naruto used his strength to pull his chains back, bringing the boar along with him. "RAAAAAAAAAH!" he released a loud and determined scream. With this, the boar is pulled towards the boy, Naruto then uses the force and momentum to bring the boar up high in the sky. The chains can extend themselves, so he doesn't have to worry on getting tangled or something. "Take this! **Uzumaki chain arts: Falling Glutton!"** then Naruto dropping his entire body to the ground, pulling the mid-air boar down to the ground. What happen next hurts the boar, definitely. The animal was sent crashing to the ground with chains stuck through its body, leaving a huge crater for it to be in.

Naruto huffed, his chest heaving in and out. He sensed no further movements from the boar, telling him that it's dead. "Disappear." With a simple order, the chain breaks into red shards as if they were glass. The shards did not stay long, they were soon buried in the snow. Naruto looked upwards, facing a shock faced Reimu right in the face with a large cocky grin on his face. "How's that? Still think that I'm useless?"

Reimu was about to answer, but a third party joined in. "Waaaatch oouuut!" a blur of black and white soared into scene, stopping. Marisa looked around, noticed the casualties. "Wow…" she whistled. "What the hell did that boar did to you two?" she looked at the boy who is standing over the fallen boar. "Hey shorty, you know what happened?"

"Yeah!" Naruto shouted in reply. "I kick ass."

* * *

**A/N: That will be it. Since this is a test story, I won't be updating it unless I get positive reviews from you guys. And just to mind you, this version of Naruto will be wild and unrestrained throughout the entire thing. So expect a lot of cursing or what not.**

**And a very, very important notice: this story, should it be approved by you readers, will be replacing 'Walking the stairs once more'. I have lose all interest in continuing that story, so instead of deleting it, I've decided to replace it with this one. Though I won't promise you any high quality material when it comes to this type of story.**

**Anyway, please let me know if you want me to continue this or not. If you don't, please tell me in the reviewers' section. If you do want me to continue, please tell me too. That's all for tonight folks, hope you have a nice day/night!**

**See ya!**


	2. First day

"Now look here my good sir, we are willing to buy the boar from you, but the price you are asking for is impossible."

"No, _you_ look here buddy. I nearly risked my whole fucking life getting this shit here, eh? And you want me to sell this baby for only 1000? You're toying me, called it."

"You're not being very reasonable here good sir, we are simply trying to open a business, and if we were to give you more on what I offered you, we will definitely be at a disadvantage."

"Yeah right. So you say that losing this fine piece of meat isn't a disadvantage?"

"…"

He loves it when people are silent reacting to what he says.

Thankfully for him, this place has this quite large settlement called the Human Village. He's not sure whether the name is official or the people here don't have any more idea to name the place. Regardless, he is having the upper hand in this haggle. Well, he won't call it haggling since he knows that he is not agreeing with the vendor one bit. But who cares, he just have to push the right buttons then the man will submit.

Selling things is easy for him. It's as easy as instant ramen. All he needs are three simple steps. First, find a perfect vendor to sell your spoils to. Second, piss the vendor off, but not too much. This will agitate the person who you are selling your spoils to. The more agitated they are, the further they're prone on buying what you're selling, of course, the condition and quality of the item applies as well. And third, if it succeeds, you raise the selling price higher, which is something that he's going to do here.

First, the vendor will speak. "Okay very well. How about… 1010?"

"No, 1020."

"No, no… how about 1015?"

"Tch, I saw a shop that was willing to give me 1055 before I got here. Maybe I'll check that shop out again…" he's having a lot of fun with this. And if one were to think if he's scamming, well he's not. He doesn't know how the economic system here works, but it's not like he cares anyway.

"Wait!" the vendor stopped the young blonde, before he could step away. The aged vendor sighed heavily, coming to a final decision. "1066. That's it. 1066." The vendor said, his voice firm and final. The man's eyes look serious, he's not even kidding anymore.

This is what they call 'the last straw'. Now what Naruto must do is to prevent this straw from snapping into two, if it were to snap, he would lose all the chances he had to sell his goods. But of course, since he's damn good at what he's doing, he'll add some few extra and cheap services.

"Now we're talking." Naruto nodded, with a smile. "But having this," he pointed to the giant boar that he had with him beside him. "in bulk would be a pain in the ass, eh?" he nudged the vendor on the chest. "So I'll do a favor for you. I'll cut this baby up in pieces and all you have to do is just place them over by the display, until you have customers that are willing to buy the meat from you."

The man looked pleased. "Really? I thank you for this, good sir."

"But of course, it comes with an extra." Hiding a grin behind his friendly façade, Naruto began to appease to the vendor. At this point, the vendor cannot refuse. The boar is big, and it will take a fine amount of time and tools to even cut the head. If this boy is willing to do all the butchering for him, why not? After all, he is the one that hunt the animal anyway, so he saw no reason for him not being able to skin or pelt the boar.

"How much?"

"Another extra 10." Naruto said simply.

"…Deal."

'Heh, sucker…'

"Okay, it's a pleasure doing business with you." The blonde haired teenager shook the man's hand forcibly before letting go. "Now, do you have any place on where I could cut this fucker up?" he asked while pointing to the boar carcass. He needs room, and something tells him that this shop has it. Well duh, since it's a butcher shop after all.

"We do, it's in the back. Please, follow me." The man led Naruto inside his shop. The blonde teenager drags the boar carcass, which he had tied with a strong rope that he had with him in his pouch. The inside of the shop isn't exactly worth mentioning, because it is typically your normal every day meat shop. Meats are hanged here and there, and since this place looks so… old fashioned, they are using an old method of keeping the meat fresh. The meat that are put on display here are probably the ones that are ready to be sold.

The owner of the place took him to the back. Despite being an old fashioned building, this place is strangely bigger than it looks. He's surprised to see that the boar fits through the door. After a few seconds of walking, he is in the slaughter house, where the old man skin, pelt and obviously kill the animal to gain profit. Judging from the situation outside, this place has quite the number of customer. Now he's not going to judge or anything but, why would a butcher shop be getting a lot of customer? Don't they have a store where you could buy cooked meat or something?

"There are knives and other utensils that you can use, the butcher who does all the chopping is absent today, so I'm glad that you are glad to do us a favor." Was the last thing that the vendor said before leaving to the front again. The vendor looked pleased, maybe he should have raised the price more by a little…? Nah, he's not that cruel.

The blonde teen placed the large boar unto the chopping table. The table is sturdy, made from some pretty hard wood. He could see blood marks and cuts everywhere on the table, and the one who does the chopping here must be a pretty strong fella if he he's able to lift a butcher knife that big. Seriously, who made this knife? The steel's too thick, the cutting edge is sharp but swinging this is like swinging a sword that has been condensed many times… he grabbed the handle of the knife, feeling its roughness and steel like sensation.

This knife is actually made from iron… the lack of shine is what made him come to that conclusion. The shaping is pretty rough… and it's definitely obvious that this knife have seen better days. Naruto brought the cleaver closer to him, seeing nothing, not even his reflection on the blade. Even if it looks crude and overused, it's still clean. That's nice to know. The teenager's lips thinned, his eyes scanning and focused on the cleaver before him.

Suddenly, images, flashbacks and memories begin to flood his mind.

The screaming… the pain… the lives that ware lost… and the faces of the dead… it's still fresh in his mind even until today. Being alive after what he has done in his life is a painful thing. It hurts him to know that he can't undo what he had done before. He knows that he's forgiven, but does he forgive himself? No. As a shinobi, he was supposed to dispose of all his pride, emotions and consciousness. All that he has to do is one thing.

Kill.

It's easier done than said. Yup. That's how he sees it. Killing is easy; killing is easy as breaking a toothpick into two with just one's fingers. But saying that you commit the kill is hard. Whether he does it for good or not, killing makes him guilty. But of course, there are also times when he's clouded in nothing but rage. His mind filled only with the intention to kill, showing no form of mercy and staining the blood of his enemies on the ground. After all of that, he felt good. Very, good. It's like getting rid of all the problems in his life, even though more will just appear. But he could just kill, kill and kill again.

However, it scares him too. It scares him, being able to kill so easily is scary, but it feels very good afterwards. He started to realize how much he has dehumanized himself, he has started to see his own body and life as a weapon. It's all the same for him. Sit in his room, wait for orders, pick up the sword, find whoever needs to be killed, and stab the ugly motherfucker in the brains. Done. Poof. Just like that and it's done. Of course, circumstances are applied, sometimes his target is a ninja, and sometimes his targets are corrupted nobles… the more obvious profession they have, the harder they are to kill.

But there was also that one time where he has to kill a Samurai general… it's not as easy as he think it is. That is also how he learns to not judge one's skill simply by their profession.

Naruto stared at the cleaver for another second. He then looked at the boar carcass. Without thinking, he raised the cleaver and brought it down, doing his job.

* * *

"Here is for the boar and doing the butchering. Please, come again if you ever need to buy or sell." The shop vendor gave Naruto a pouch full of coins. From what Naruto can see, this currency is different from the ones that he's using back home. So it's useless to use whatever Ryos that he has with him. Naruto gladly accepted the pouch full of coins with open palms, smiling.

"Thank you, I'll be sure to check things out if I ever have any other things that I'll buy or sell. See ya." He turned to leave, walking the road filled with people. His lips are stretched, showing his obviously pleased expression. If there's something that works for both good and bad, it's money. Money speaks in a very complicated yet messed up language. Could be good, could be the opposite. But he doesn't care, as long as he can survive in this place and return home, then he'll have no problem.

He just felt relieved to know that he has some cash with him in case if he needs to buy some things. He walked further into the street, getting into a more and much crowded area. People are everywhere. From kids to adults with all of them doing whatever it is they are doing. He finds the peaceful atmosphere nice. He could get a change of pace here, after all, who wouldn't want to live a life free of hunter ninjas searching for your ass?

"Kyaaah!"

Just like that, his good mood was thrown flatly to the ground. He turned his head towards where the scream was directed from, the people around him seems to be attracted by the sudden scream to. All heads are directed towards the scene of commotion. A group of three men are harassing a girl, simple as that if it were to be described. He had seen this kind of thing in his life, and it happens not only to women but also to men, only in a more brutal sense.

"You bitch, look what you did to my boss's shirt huh!?"

"I-I'm sorry, I'll clean it right away!" just as she was about to reach for the other man's clothing to clean off the mess that she had accidentally made, she was roughly kicked back to the ground by the thug who defended his boss. "Ah!"

All the people who watched the scene transpire are whispering amidst themselves, not even making an effort on helping the poor girl. Women began chattering amongst each other, whispering on how pitiful the girl is to have angered a member of a gang. Men are just watching the scene, none of them have the courage to defend a helpless young girl. Children are scared, because their parents told them not to associate themselves with 'bad' people.

"Calm down Koji, she is just a kid." The boss raised a hand to dismiss his subordinate's violent attitude. His face, rough but serious, eyes containing hints of hidden intention and vile within them. Naruto is familiar with these types of people, he's too familiar. People like these are calm and level headed on the outside, but once provoked or pushed to the limits, they'll be showing all kinds of wick.

"B-Boss…" the thug swallowed, obeying his boss. "The boss's kind enough to let ya off with this one, the next time, I'm sure he won't." the thug said with an attitude. The blonde haired shinobi watching from the distance narrowed his azure eyes, his anger and annoyance rising to his head.

As much as he wants to hand the punk's ass over to him in a box, he can't just charge in and beat the shit out of the two motherfuckers just like that. There will be a high possibility that those two idiots will come back for the girl, harassing her even further. So, for now, he decided to lay off and only step in when things get a little bit out of hand.

The girl, still scared and nervous, bowed her head low in forced gratitude. "T-Thank you very much sir! It won't happen again!" she stuttered out loudly. In Naruto's eyes, he could see how humiliated the girl is. This is embarrassing for her, and judging from the stares she's getting, she's ready to explode with all the pressure.

"Hm. See to it." Was the last thing the boss said before stepping away, his scrawny subordinate following him like an obedient puppy. The crowds are relieved that there was no fight or struggles, they began to disperse, leaving the poor girl alone in the streets. She has her head lowered, shoulders visibly shaking.

Naruto watched from afar, his eyes not showing pity or compassion. Only nostalgia. He remembered being in her shoes, but that was all before who he is now. If the old him is still here, then he's pretty sure that he won't allow those thugs to touch her in the first place. But he's a changed person now, though he has to admit that some old habits die hard. He turned to leave and was about to make his first step before…

"Sniff… sniff…"

God dammit.

He stop dead in his tracks, his feet unknowingly stiff. If there is one thing, one thing in his life that he hates the most and can't stand the most, is to see women cry. He doesn't know if it's genetic or what, but if he ever see a single girl crying even for the most stupid reasons, he cannot resist on helping them. That is why he is currently having a troubled expression, his mind thinking on whether he should help the girl or not, if he did, then he'll get into a business that he never wants to know.

"Uuu… Uwaaaah!"

…Screw whoever it is that made him has this kind of condition…

Turning around, he approached the crying girl. The girl cries softly, not wanting people to know that she's crying. Well, the people know but he isn't going to state that right in front of her face. Reaching an appropriate distance, he stopped. "Ahem…" he coughed intentionally, trying to get the girl's attention. "Ahem." He tried it again, but no luck. He sighed, looks like he'll have to be direct with this one.

Taking a deep breath, he formed the largest and purest smile he could muster. He tapped on the girl's shoulder gently, asking, "What's the matter?" he asked with a voice that made himself cringe inwardly. It sounds off for him, like something that he shouldn't even do in his life. "Are you okay?"

The girl slowly turns her head towards him, exposing her flushed, teary face.

Then… everything just went so fast for Naruto.

* * *

"Is it really okay for me to leave you here…?"

"Yeah… I have school today, but I don't think that I'll be able to go to school because of the snow…"

Along with the girl that he met before, Naruto is walking towards the direction of a house, the girl's house to be more exact. After speaking to her in the middle of the street, he just can't leave her be. He blames his pitifully weak heart on this one… anyway, it's fine for him as long as the girl feels better. According to her, her house is outside the village. He's not sure why but she said it's because her father's a wood chopper or something so they needed to leave outside of the village.

"Hm… you're right, it is pretty thick. Where is the school anyway?" Naruto asked the shorter teenager, curious.

"It just a few minutes' walk from here, but the snow is too thick and it's cold too…" the girl said while shivering under the cold. The snow is indeed thick on the way over there, going there will be a hassle. For the girl at least. He has no problem in bringing her to school but he's not sure if she would mind the method of transportation he's going to use.

Female clients hate tree jumping. Enough said.

Deciding, he'll try and ask her anyway. "I can help you get to school if you want to, but I'm not sure if you'll like the way how I'll get you there." he suggested while stretching his arms.

The girl gave Naruto a confused look. "What do you- Kyah!" she was suddenly scooped up by a pair of strong arms. "Whawhawhawha what are you doing?!" she demanded, face flustered and red. She can feel the boy's hard and muscular abdomen, something that she was not expecting from a person like him.

"Told you before. I'm not sure if you'll like the way how I'll get you to your school." The blonde haired whiskered teen shrugged. He smiled brightly, readying his feet. "Just hold on tight and put all your trust in me, I ain't gonna let a girl fall from some trees now can I?" there is a sense of humor in his voice, but what's disturbing for the girl is that he actually mean it.

"Trees? What do you mean by tree-EEEEK!" She felt surprise taking over her when the boy who is carrying her suddenly launched, to be more exact, jumped onto a tree branch. It did not stop there, he continues to jump from branch to branch, tree to tree. It might look cool for her if she is not being carried by said boy. "Put me down, put me down!" she shouted, shaking her legs. She is scared, there's no doubt about it.

"Really?" Naruto raised an eyebrow as he answers the girl's plea. He then smirked, still maneuvering through the treetops. "You really want to fall from up here? I'd say that you'll break a bone of four if you fall from this height." His answer managed to silence the girl, causing her to become even more terrified than before. "Don't worry though, I'm not planning on letting you fall…"

Her face brightens to a beautiful and ripe pink color. Somehow the words that came out of his mouth sounds assuring enough. She felt like she could trust this stranger in all circumstances. As she was busy with her own thoughts, Naruto is making his way through the trees. The girl said that her school's not far from here, but he doesn't exactly know where it is. so what could he do other than to ask the person herself?

"Hey, how far are we from this school of yours?" Naruto asked, his feet tapping as jumped from branch to branch.

Snapped out from her stupor, the girl gave him a late reply. "O-Oh. It's not far, just a few more meters away from here." She directed, pointing forward towards where Naruto is heading.

"Hm…? Well that's nice to know." Naruto said out. "You do have friends that can accompany you home, right? I really need to go somewhere after this." He stated, letting the girl know.

The ninja, while carrying the girl, subtly observes the winter climate around him. It is cold, since he's pretty much only using his jacket and a shirt underneath it. He doesn't have any hand warmers or even socks, a scarf would be terrific, not to mention. But still, as an awesome individual, he's not going to let a little cold get in the way of helping people in need.

"I do, some at least." The girl whispered out, almost unwillingly. "I don't have that many friends at school, since I live outside of the village. Most of the kids at school live inside the village, and those who came from the outside like me are either taken by them or they're just too busy trying to get to know me."

"Is that so?" Naruto droned. "That actually reminds me of myself when I was younger, believe it or not." There's no shame in admitting his childhood. Even he would agree if someone were to say that he's not the type to have many friends. "I was pretty much like the kind of person you described yourself as. Always waiting for someone to talk to you, but the differences between you and me is that I don't mind kicking a few asses in order to gain some trust." He grinned.

"What a crude way of thinking…." The girl muttered bitterly.

She was surprised when the blonde laugh his heart out, as if hearing an amusing joke. "I know right? I thought so too. But it didn't take me a long time to realize that I'm the one who's actually at fault. I mean, I wasn't doing anything to get what I wanted, right? Thinking about it again, that's pretty childish and fucked up." The blonde boy shrugged. "I finally see the shit on the floor. So, I decided to make some friends."

"In… what way?" the girl asked, wanting him to clarify further.

"In the most awesomest and fanfuckingtastic way there is." she heard him say with pride. Never in her life has she encountered such a… straightforward person. The most straightforward person she thought she knew was probably one of her classmates. He's brash, always getting into trouble and acts like an idiot. It seems as if he has no or any form restrain at all. This person, however, shows no slightest bit of it. Even if he has it, it would be similar to silk threads. Thin and easy to break.

After minutes of tree jumping, the girl soon realized that she is now in a familiar location. "Ah, we're near my school. Just look at the sky for smoke. That should point us to the right way." The school that she's attending isn't the main school. The main school is inside the human village. The reason why she's attending this school is because it is actually nearer to her house, than her house to the human village. And she enjoys walking to school with all the scenery around her.

Naruto looked at the distant sky, trying to find the hint that the girl has provided for him. His eyes scanned the grey, cloudy sky trying to find the slightest hint of smoke. After a few seconds of searching, he found it. It's not too far from here, he could get there in seconds if he speed up a little. Which is something that he's about to be doing right now.

"Wait, what are you do-WAAAAAAH!" The next seventy seconds was literal speed hell for the girl.

**Later…**

"There we go, all nice and safe eh?"

"I could've died back there!" being carried and jumping from tree to trees, isn't something she does often. In fact, the thought had never occurred before in her mind. She was still annoyed that she had to go through that particular method of travelling, but she is also relieved that she also survived throughout the entire ordeal. Falling and having a broken bone or limb would be the last thing she wanted…

"Don't worry about the tiniest thing girly, just relax and chill." The way Naruto is dismissing her annoyance has only managed to increase it further. The blonde ninja give the school a look, murmuring. "Meh, not too bad for being a school. Could've been better though." Seems like he's not the type of person to keep his opinion to himself. He turns, catching the girl's attention. He raised his hands, his feet stepping forward. "Well, it's time for me to go. Let's not meet up like this again sometime, eh?"

But before he could walk away further, the girl's voice stopped him. "Wait!" he heard her shout, motioning for him to stop. He stopped and looked back, his face demanding an explanation. "What's your name!" the girl asked. For once, Naruto had never seen a person so determined to learn his name. At least a person who is not after his head. He could easily tell from her eyes that she's not going to stop bothering or letting him leave until he told her his name.

Should he? Or should he not?

Meh, both works.

He turns his back again, surprising the girl. He raised his hands to stop the girl from approaching him. "My name is not important, since we won't be meeting each other anyway." He snorted. "All that you have to know is that I'm Uzumaki. That's it. See you for real now, girl." He stepped forward, walking away from the girl's field of vision. Until he is sure that he is no longer within the girl's view, he looked back. "Heh. Pretty sure that she's going to be persistent…" he mused before shrugging. "Guess not."

He disappears into a thin wisp of smoke.

* * *

"So… let me ask this again, why are we here?"

Parties are common in Gensokyo. In fact, it's probably not Gensokyo if there's no party. Normally, Reimu would love to come to parties. She would. But there are certain times when she is busy with her own things like: Sweeping the shrine grounds, eating mandarins, drinking tea, warming up underneath the kotatsu now that it's winter and drinking tea. She doesn't care if it's repetitive, people who have any problem with her lifestyle could go and directly answer to her.

Her friend and all time partner simply gave her a one handed hug. "Don't just stay crude and perky Rei… just enjoy it just like everybody else." From the way she's speaking, Reimu could easily tell that her friend is definitely drunk. Though it confuses her in one way. Since, Marisa does have quite the tolerance when it comes to drinking that she would still be able to fly and go for a round of danmaku. Perhaps wine is just stronger in some aspect.

Reimu let herself off from the blonde's grip, a sour expression on her face. Indeed, the party is nice. Indeed, it would be a shame if she were to just let this chance pass. The number of people here are sufficient enough to make the place warm and crowded, what's more, the hostess who is currently hosting the party provide heaters that makes the place even warmer. This is way better than her shrine. "Great, I just admitted something taboo…" the Hakurei miko murmured under her breath.

Aside from Marisa, there are a few others who are drunk too. Excluding a certain little pandemonium. The Tengus are here, no doubt searching for some scoops that are worth writing in their papers. The famous, or infamous, Yuuka Kazami is here too. She's not drunk per say, but she has been drinking wine ever since she step foot inside this mansion. The family from Hell is surprisingly present. She didn't know how Remilia managed to convince them to come, but whatever methods she used, it is worth praising. The two tailed Kasha is definitely drunk and the Hell Raven is too much of a bird brain to be drunk.

As for the Satori herself… let's just say that Reimu can't think about that right now from the staring she received from the Youkai.

The duo from the Netherworld is also present. As usual, the Ghost Mistress is devouring the food supply as if it would just replenish itself. In truth, it doesn't. But does that stops the woman from emptying it anyway? No. Along with the Ghost Mistress is her Gardener. Youmu Konpaku. She is doing what she normally does when attending parties with her mistress, which is being with her mistress while holding plates filled with food. Is the food for her? No. But she was, occasionally, being permitted to enjoy and look around. However, being the loyal and ever faithful servant of her mistress, she insisted on staying here.

Reimu also caught sight of the folks from the Bamboo forest. The two immortals are, however, at the opposite side, not wanting to even make the slightest bit of contact between the two of them. The Princess, along with her escorts, is having a rather enjoyable time. She's enjoying the party, and so does her escorts. The other immortal seems… out of place in a way and it also seems that she's just attending for the mood. All that she's been doing for the previous ten seconds was to play with her drink.

Despite all the faces here, most that she had defeated before in previous incidents, they're all cool and are neutral with each other. Though she can't say for sure, except for the two immortals. The hostess of the party is also joining the party, but she is not somewhere in this part of the room. Reimu's just too lazy to even think about where that vampire is. She took a sip of the wine, feeling a foreign taste in her mouth. Somehow, she knows the reason as to why she's not comfortable when going to parties like this. She prefers eastern styled parties aside from western styled ones. Though the food is good, she has to admit that. And the maid here is an excellent cook.

As the party is happening around her, Reimu looked up to the ceiling. "Ah, if it isn't Reimu…" the shrine maiden's eyes rolled sideways. Her gaze landed on a shorter figure. Said person is dressed rather stunningly. Complete with the aura of charisma around her. But Reimu is completely resistant to it already. The mistress of the house is here, the Scarlet Devil herself, Remilia Scarlet.

The blue haired vampire walks over closer to the red and white wearing girl, her eyes focused on the miko's frame. "You look as splendid as ever Reimu… even though you did not even bother to wear different clothing when attending parties." The vampire speaks in a rather amused tone. But she knows that Reimu is not one to be amused easily.

"Remilia." Reimu acknowledges her presence. "I don't really try to look splendid. All I care about is getting out of the cold and your place is the nearest one." She then pointed to the drunken witch who is currently chugging down a wine bottle on top of a table. "Not to mention, someone was pretty insistent on making me accompany her here."

Remilia laughs dignifiedly. "True… knowing the thief, she would be more likely to act in such ways… but I wonder," her eyes were then focused back towards the miko. "I am sure that you have had quite the eventful morning, no?" it was not a question. It's like a guess, but that guess is right on the spot.

Reimu's eyes went wide visibly, if not for a moment. She then narrows both eyes, gripping to the wine glass she's holding tighter. "So you knew…"

"Dear Reimu, it is in my power to see the fate of others, though I may not have full control over it, I am still… sensitive to it." Remilia sips her wine before continuing. The vampire change pose, making an open gesture with her arms. "Talking to me alone is like opening a door. But the only difference is that I'm the only who is able to see what lies behind that door. So tell me, what happened to you today?"

At her question, Reimu looked at her weirdly. "Didn't you just said that you're the only who's able to see what's behind this door of mine?"

"Knowing and seeing are two different things. The Satori could approve for me on that matter." She added the last part. "And as I've said before, I do not have full control over my abilities. I only know that something great, be it beneficial or crucial, will happen to those person who I'm familiar with." her eyes turn sultry, almost too much for comfort. "And I'm sure that we both are quite… _familiar_… with each other, no?"

"Sure." Shrugged the miko, not really caring about Remilia's question. "And as to what happened to me today, let's just say that I met all sorts of trouble in the form of one person."

"Oh…" the vampire's red, scarlet eyes gleam with interest. "Tell me more…"

* * *

"A-Achoo!" one Naruto Uzumaki stop dead in his tracks, interrupted by a sudden sneeze. The blonde sniffs to find his nose itchy. "Damn winter, I hate winter. I hate summer too… but oh well, no use in thinking." Walking, he is in a place somewhere in this Gensokyo place that the Shrine girl had explained to him about earlier today. After killing that boar, he separated with her and went to the village in order to sell the boar for some cash.

But it looks like that cash is useless when he's inside some creepy forest. This forest really reminds him of the Forest of the death back in Konoha. All sorts of creature lives there, and they say that the creatures are the least of their worries. He's not sure if the same thing applies here, probably not since he had just had his first encounter with a creature this morning. He had yet to see a Youkai, and it's not like he's sure on whether they belong to the 'creature' category or not.

Whether they belong or not, he did not care.

Exploring is a hobby of his, it's one of the many hobbies that he have. It's great for him to get familiar with his surroundings in other words, it helps him easier on adapting to newer climates of terrains. He had been on snowy climates before, but not so much. So he'll consider this as a training of some sort. Endurance training, yeah that's it. But still, when he's cold, he is cold. It's a good thing that this place still has sunlight basking over it, or else it'll be colder than for comfort.

He has reasons as to why he's exploring this forest. Reimu mentioned something about a certain gap hag being able to perform a time transportation jutsu. All that he has to do is just find whoever thus gap hag is and ask her to transport him home to Konoha. If she's one of those types who need a good ass kicking to be told what they have to do, he'll gladly do it. But maybe, he should act at least a little bit polite since this person is a hag.

He ventured deeper into the forest, and the feeling of uneasiness began to rise up gradually. He has this condition when or if he is feeling uneasy or uncomfortable, his six senses will skyrocket. He'll be able to sense things more accurately, his reflexes are increased and other useful tricks. Perhaps it's because of his background that he had gain this kind of condition.

The ninja delves deeper into the forest, his senses flaring up. He stopped, feeling a presence behind him. he looked back, hands ready to beat whoever it is that he is feeling. The presence is different from a human's. It is stronger, yet it is also well hidden. Perhaps… this is a Youkai? No, he can't be too sure just yet. Maybe it's another of those possessed animal things? That's out of the question too since the animal would just run up straight to him and charge.

He resumed walking again, pretending as if the presence has never existed. He walked, walked and walked. It is then he started to confirm his own conclusion into being right. The presence was indeed following him, but he's confused as to why it is not attacking him yet. He's alone in a forest with no one else. He doesn't look equipped and he's sure that whoever's watching him out there thinks that he's just a short kid with an attitude.

A small sneeze emitted from somewhere within the forest.

"Come out whoever you are! Or else I'll send your body to your parents in a body bag." His threat produced results, surprisingly. Rustling noise started to be heard, footsteps are audible. Naruto readies his arm, in case if he needs to go to a fight. His eyes are focused and his mind is set to act on the first sight of an ugly monstrosity. The presence approached him, it begins to get closer, closer and closer. Naruto gulped down, feeling nervous that he was about to see a Youkai.

Finally, something or someone came out from the bushes. An arm appears for him to view, then come along a head, then a full body frame. This is no ugly monstrosity… because, he is sure that this person is a human.

"…Hello?"

"Hi…?"

This person, she's… human. Right?

* * *

**A/N: Hahaha! I felt so evil for ending the story there. Who are the two mysterious women/girls that Naruto encountered today? Are they canon? Are they OCs? **

**I was planning on uploading this yesterday but the internet has stopped working. So I did my best to try and upload today. Speaking of uploading, I am going to be focusing on my Touhou centered fic, Flandre Scarlet is in my house, more. I just enjoy writing that piece of literature very much.**

**That's just about it, please review and favorite. Share this to your Naruto or Touhou loving uncle if you have to. I know I am one. **

**Have a good day/night!**


	3. Ain't got strings on me

Blue eyes met calm gold.

Boy meets girl.

Human and…

Human?

The male blonde stares unblinkingly, his mind trying to figure out who this person in front of him is. She looks human, at least human enough for Naruto. He hasn't seen a Youkai, so he doesn't really know how one looks like. But the miko did tell him that most Youkais took on human like appearance. So seeing a person in a place where there's most likely to be Youkais instead of humans, he is left with this kind of thought.

"Hello…?"

"Hi…?"

She responded, her voice clearly shows her age. She looks young, but probably older than him. Her eyes are just as curious as his, and her docile and doll like face aren't things that he get used to see. Over all, this woman is suspicious. Instead of him, what would a person do in this kind of forest anyway? It's cold, it's hard to walk due to the snow and he could get lost if it wasn't for his strong sense of direction.

Thinking is nice and all, however, he should put an end to this uncomfortable and awkward pause. This woman doesn't look like she'll say anything so he'll go first. "Eh, nice to meet you. I'm an… what is the term again… oh yeah, I'm an outsider." At the mentioning of the term, he could see the woman making a face of realization already. Are outsiders really that common here? "And if you don't mind me asking, where in the hell am I?"

To his surprise, the girl approached him and nodded in understanding. "We are in the Forest of Magic." She revealed. Her eyes observed him closer, face scrunching in doubt. "A pretty dangerous forest for outsiders like you… tell me, whatever business do you have here?" she asked. From her tone, Naruto could already tell that she was pretty concerned, maybe this forest is her home or something.

"I need to find a Gap hag. I don't know what or who this hag is but, from what the other blonde told me, she is a pretty awesome hag." The blonde boy said out in a wondering manner. "Do you know where can I find some Gap hags? Do they live in caves or something?"

The girl, who has just heard the explanation from the boy, took in a deep breath. She pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance. Outsiders and their lack of knowledge of things… she was sure that there is a library that outsiders could visit to learn more about this place. Why didn't they just take their time and read? If she meets another one like this, then she will go crazy.

"First off, there are no such things as a gap hag. It's nothing but a term." The way she's correcting him is strict, akin to that of a teacher and a student. "Second, please follow me. I will answer as much answer as you want to later." She turns her back on him, walking several steps. Judging from her lack of words or instruction, she really wants Naruto to follow.

The blonde haired ninja shrugged, before following the woman wordlessly. The woman began leading him through the forest, it's almost as if she remembered where this place really is. It's no surprise if this woman is bringing him to her house. He really isn't going to be surprised if she's a Youkai to begin with. From the way he thinks about the things here, people are pretty normal about Youkais. When he was walking in the village, he overheard people talking about Youkai. Some talk about them being helpful, some talk about them being a pain in the ass and some are just too ignorant to talk. Maybe he's a hypocrite about the ignorant comment, but he can't help but see it that way.

This walk sure is long. He knows that he likes adventuring, but not so much in a climate like this. His body is already freezing as much as it could get, without him getting paralyzed, and his mind is just too… confused to think. While this place looks nice and all, he got his own set of troubles back home. He can't just stay in here and hide while his problems continue to get bigger and bigger. In short, he needs to really get back to Konoha or the Elemental Nation for all that matters. However, Marisa said that this Gap hag person is hard to find, so that's one thing he'll have to think of solving.

"Hey if you don't mind… what's your name?" he suddenly asked. He was thinking too much that he had forgotten to ask for this woman's name.

The woman hummed in thinking, holding her book closer to her chest. "I'm Alice. Alice Margatroid." The now identified as Alice introduced herself to the boy. "You can just call me Alice."

He bristled silently upon hearing her name. "Alice… huh… what a weird name. But hey, I've been experiencing weird things ever since I'm here…" the boy muttered to himself, but it was no use since Alice managed to hear what he was saying.

To prove her point, she spoke. "Oh don't worry, you'll get used to it." Alice doesn't need to turn around to see the surprised expression Naruto is making. "What about you? What's your name? I've said mine, and it's not polite when you don't introduce yours, right?" she half asked and half demand.

Naruto stopped for a second. He then grins, scratching the back of his head in a sheepish manner. Resuming walking, he answers the woman's question. "Hehe… sorry. I'm Naruto Uzumaki. The most badass ninja you could ever find in your whole fucking life." He self-introduced proudly with his nose up high and a thumb on his chest.

This manner of action caused the woman to giggled, expressing her amusement. "Really? A ninja? What kind of ninja wears orange?" she joked while asking.

"Heh, the awesomest one of course." The so called badass ninja huffed with a satisfied smirk. "But in all honesty, I really like the color orange. It's… a mixture of two other colors that also happens to be my favorite." Naruto shrugged, saying it as honest as he can. "While it's weird for a ninja to wear orange, I want to have that sense of individuality. I want to be different in a way, from others."

His answer caused her to be silent for the whole minute. Thinking to herself, the answer that he gave was pretty much acceptable. There is a sense of selfishness and pride, as expected from a human. She too was a human herself, and she can't really say that much has changed ever since the day she became a Youkai.

The deeper they get into the forest, the colder it becomes. At this point, Naruto began to shiver, he rubbed and hug his own frame, doing whatever he can to keep himself warm. There are trees around him that could be useful to create fire. He knows a number of Katon jutsus, but he's not just going to run up to a tree, chop it off and burn it to keep himself warm. At least not with a girl watching him, that'll be weird as fuck.

But thankfully, he does not have to be in cold any longer, because they are approaching a cottage or house of some sort.

"This is my house, please, come in." Alice gestured to the door when they are near enough to the small cottage. For Naruto, the house looks comfy and warm, a perfect shelter for cold times. He's just glad to know that he won't have to stay in the cold further. He managed a small smile, feeling a little grateful.

"Sorry for intruding…" letting himself in, the ninja is greeted by the sight of a normal living room. There is a sofa, a coffee table, an arm chair and lights to keep the room bright. He can already feel the lack of cold upon entering, Alice walked passed him, walking to the kitchen or something.

"Please wait here while I get the tea ready." She said, gesturing to the sofa.

The other blonde replied by sitting on one of the sofa, sinking into the soft surface of the furniture. It has been a long time ever since he could rest his body properly. Tree branches and ground aren't the best place to sleep. He would take this sofa over those. He just can't imagine the faces of those ROOT operatives that are currently trying to search for him, not that they really have faces. Danzo is one fucked up motherfucker, the reason why he created his private army was for fucked up reasons as well.

Brain washing, ruthless training, child soldiers… those three terms are enough to summarize what ROOT really is. For him, all those things are fucked up. And if this whole ROOT thing were to be brought to court, Danzo could not hide the fact that he has been using child soldiers, brain washed them and use them for whatever diabolical or conspiracy he's planning. He is sure that the third Hokage knows of this, but what confuses him is why hasn't the old man done anything about Danzo?

The third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, was the teammate of Shimura Danzo. They were buddies, but now, even the civilian council could sense the sense of rivalry and bitterness between the two old timers. He personally knows this, because he had been exposed to their arguments and disagreements many times.

…

…

"I'm sorry for the wait."

Soon later, Alice returned from the back carrying a tray full of cups and plates. The smell of butter and sugar hits Naruto's nose. He can already tell that she is also serving some sweet based snacks. But there is one problem… he can't stand sweets. Eating sweet is an equivalent of tasting salt water mixed with iodine solution. Or in other words, it's very bad. He cannot get rid of the bitter expression in his face, so instead, he mixed it with an awkward smile.

Alice, who has placed the tea and cookies on the table, noticed the expression that Naruto is making. "Hm? Is something wrong?"

"No, there's nothing wrong here Alice. Just…" his eyes slowly hinting at the plate full of cookies in front of him, something that Alice failed to notice. "Cold, yeah, cold."

"Ah… the heater will kick in soon, I ran out of firewood so I had to search for them." so that explains why she's outside… though it's weird, why isn't she carrying anything like a bag or something? Sitting on the other sofa that was placed opposite to Naruto, she claps her hands. Suddenly, small blur began appearing right around her. Naruto was too shocked to do anything, he can't react without doing anything reckless like hitting the table or something.

"Whoa!"

"Hm? Oh, sorry, I haven't told you about them have I?" Alice took a moment to let all of the floating… dolls to approach her. "These are my dolls, this is Shanghai," she gestured to the one nearest from her. "Hourai," another one, floating not far from Shanghai. "And Holland."

Blinking repeatedly, Naruto remembered that he is currently in a place where girls shoot projectiles and things like monsters exist. So knowing something like this shouldn't be surprising. That and also, something like this also common from where he's from. Puppetry, the art of using puppets, both organic and inorganic, to help you in combat. He learned the basics, but was never too interested in the art. He prefers his chains instead of strings, though chakra strings can be pretty useful sometimes…

"Aah… puppetry eh? Been a while since I saw someone doing it." The last time he saw people using it was in his stay in Sunagakure. He had attracted the attention of the Spec ops division of Suna, which is known as SAND. They're pretty similar with the ANBU, but a lot less diligent when it comes to border patrol.

"Oh? You know puppetry?" Alice asked with interest. Knowing that someone is familiar with what it is that she does is something rare. Even her fellow magicians are not familiar with the concept of puppetry.

"I learned the art, though just the basic. I learned on how to make the 'strings' and it took me weeks to realize that they aren't normal strings." The boy muttered at the particular memory. "Aside from that, no. I was not really interested in puppetry in the first place. And even if was, I doubt that it'll really help me, concerning what type of person I am…"

"I see… anyway, what do you wish to know?" Alice directed their conversation to the main topic. "I can only answer a few, but I suppose that it should be enough if you have decided to stay in Gensokyo."

"Let's see… hmm… how about you? Are you a Youkai or not?" the male blonde bluntly asked.

Alice, blinked. Seriously not expecting that kind of question from the boy. She however, knew that it would eventually come to this. Out of all the outsiders that she has helped, Naruto is the first one to ask of her… status. And being the honest woman she is, there is no use in lying. "I am a Youkai, though I used to be human."

"Eh? So Youkais were once human?" Naruto wondered.

"No, though there are circumstances… most Youkais are beings that are… naturally created, just like humans." She doesn't like the way this conversation is going, she needs to direct it somewhere else.

"Meh, too boring." The blonde boy waved the topic off. "Okay, second question, do you know where the gap hag lives? Or whoever this gap hag is?" if Alice was surprised before, she is again now.

Normally, outsiders would ask things like: 'Where is the nearest town?' or 'Is there any way that I could return back to my world?' or even 'Is there a way for me to defend myself?'. So hearing someone wanting to know the whereabouts of a certain Youkai is something new for her. Regardless, she needs to answer Naruto's question as per agreement.

"This Gap hag is a woman called Yakumo Yukari. She is a very mysterious woman, so no one really knows about her current whereabouts much more where she lives." Alice started, stating it as brief as she can.

"So how do people… communicate with her?"

"They don't." Alice said with closed eyes. "She is the one who communicates with people. And she has the power to alter with gaps, something similar to that of a portal that lets her to see, go through or even hear when one is placed nearby… I'm not really surprised if she is currently hearing our conversation right now."

"Ah… so this Yukari person is awesome after all…" Naruto muttered under his breath. "Anyway, is there really no way for me to find this Yukari lady? You made her sounds like a stalker and a shady person."

Alice giggled. "She is. It could be considered as a hobby, but the fact that she is mysterious remains unchanged." The tone of voice that Alice used is different from the previous one, it seems… serious. "Any form of interaction with her could only bring bad results… to the one who is dumb enough to interact with her. Even some of the well-known Youkais here try to avoid her as much as possible." Alice finished. But she can't help but ask. "Why are you so keen in finding her?"

Naruto took his time to sip from his cup of tea. "Do I really need a reason to? I'm an outsider, which means that I come from the outside. Which also means that I have a place to return to. Reimu and Marisa said that I could return back home because this Yukari lady could like transport or teleport to different dimensions and all that git. I know that dimension travelling is possible." Naruto said before Alice could ask. "It's the reason why I'm here in the first place."

At that last particular point, Alice shows her interest by raising an eyebrow. "You were transported by Yukari? How come…? I'm pretty sure she would at least made herself known to people who she brought along with her… what is that woman up to?" she knows what type of person Yukari Yakumo is. But as far as she knows, it could only be false. No one gets that woman, not even Reimu and Marisa themselves. The one who is closest to her is the Ghost Princess from the Netherworld, but she doubt that she'll be so keen in sharing a thing or two about her friend.

Alice remembered something. "Wait, you've met Reimu and Marisa before?"

Naruto nods his head in affirmation. "Yup, they're weird girls. Especially the shrine bitch…" the way he addressed Reimu surprises Alice greatly. No one has ever dared to call Reimu in such illicit and profane manner. Not even her close friend, Marisa. Naruto continues. "The other one… she's fine. We didn't get to talk much, though I can already tell that she's actually a pain in the ass…"

"Please don't get the wrong idea about those girls…" Alice said defensively. "They may be rough right around the edges, especially Reimu, but they're all good girls." She stated.

The blonde male blinked. "You talk as if you know them personally or somethin'…"

"I do. I've known them since a very long time, and I could say that they're actually good friends. " The puppeteer said while nodding. "We have been working together in incident solving for a few times, they are also strong."

At the mentioning of the 'strong' part, Naruto scoffed. He crossed his arms, looking away. "Strong you say? She can't even take care of an oversized boar that has been possessed by an evil spirit or something. It took me and my royal awesomeness to do the trick." His bravado showing, the ninja shows no shame in in smiling. "Sure, what she did was awesome and all, but it looks like that isn't enough to stop an overgrown pig."

Alice hummed, thinking on how she could prove the young man wrong. She acknowledges her friends' skills greatly, she even respect them. But the thought of someone talking trash about her friend's ability is absolutely wrong to her. So she needs to prove him wrong… but how…?

Ah, Danmaku.

Finishing her cup of tea, Alice then smiles. The smile she's showing, however, is different than her usual ones. At least the ones that Naruto had seen on her face. "Then would you like me to show you how… _awesome_… danmaku can be?" her tone stretched out the word 'awesome'. In an instant, she has managed to get the attention of her fellow blonde.

Naruto, remained indifferent. His sign of curiosity is merely the raise of an eyebrow. "Eh? What do you mean?" was the intelligent reply that came out of Naruto's lips.

Alice placed her now empty cup back on the table's surface. She gestured by spreading her arms apart from her. "What I'm saying is that I, Alice Margatroid, challenge you, Uzumaki Naruto, into a danmaku duel. The person who surrenders first loses. Is that agreeable?" she tilted her head.

"I would love to accept your request doll face but one thing though…" a smile formed on Naruto's face. "I don't know danmaku."

Alice, however, remained unaffected by his reasoning. It's not a reason, actually. It was a fact. She knows that an outsider could not simply learn danmaku in a short period of time. "That's no matter. I will be using danmaku, and you will be using whatever tricks you have got underneath your sleeves."

Tension rise into the air. The atmosphere is getting thick and uncomfortable. Both blondes are trying their best from keeping their true intention from seeping out. In Alice's case, she is feeling frustration and mild anger. In Naruto's case, he is feeling annoyance and anger.

The male blonde speaks with his voice still as easy going as before. "I think that you might want to put more… advantages in your part, Miss Alice." He could see the slightest twitch of finger coming from the woman. "From what I've observed from Reimu, these… danmaku doesn't do much damage. A knife would do so much better in my case."

He's underestimating her… he'll regret that. Instead of showing her irritation, Alice agrees. "Very well, I will. I will give you all I have. And if I were to win… you will admit that you are wrong on danmaku being inferior."

Naruto raised his hands up. "Now now… I never did say that danmaku is inferior now did I?" his words caused Alice to gulp. Knowing that she had just indirectly forced words into Naruto's mouth. "Hm. But whatever, I'll go with this stupid rule. But if I were to win… let's just say that you'll have more questions to answer, okay?"

The moment he said his condition to her, Alice could feel that she was making a big mistake already. But there is no turning back. Turning back from this would be the same as turning back on her own words, and that would be the last thing she'll do. So, without any other choice, she nodded. "Deal."

**Outside…**

"So… how should we start this?"

"We will turn and take three steps each. Once we've taken three steps each, we will start."

"Good."

The cold winter evening in Gensokyo is truly unforgiving. People in the human village have the least thing to worry about since their strategic location is devoid from any natural disaster or calamities. The same cannot be said for the forest though. In the Forest of Magic, the climate tends to be worse than it is on the other remaining parts of Gensokyo. Maybe it is due to the high exposure or radiation of magic that this place is giving off.

But that is not a problem for both Alice and Naruto. Right now, all that matters, is about winning this fight.

Both blonde are tensed, seeing that none of them know what the other's skill looks like. Especially for Alice, since she hasn't seen anything out of the ordinary from the other blonde. Naruto knows that Alice uses puppets. He knows how puppet users fight, but this is a danmaku match here, he can't really tell what will happen. He swears, if things get a little bit out of hand… he'll be forced to use _that_.

Seeing that they both have made the first step, Naruto inched his hand closer to the kunai pouch that he had with him. Alice's fingers twitched, getting a little bit on edge. A gust of cold, freezing air blew pass them, intensifying the scene further. Then they make the second step, this time, Naruto is sweating a little bit from his forehead. Meanwhile, Alice is silently preparing a Spell Card out from her arsenal.

Then it is finally the third step.

"**Blue Sign: Benevolent French Dolls!"**

"**Uzumaki: Kusari."**

Alice turns around, her puppets shooting out red and green patterned bullets like projectiles. Her eyes widen when they see the boy. She saw him with his hands outstretched, chain links continuously coming out as if they are infinite. The chain is coming for her and she knows better than to get hit from an attack like that. She took it to the air, dodging the incoming chain by a hair's breadth. Naruto, however, isn't doing so well in dodging. He took the bullets straight on, but he isn't showing any signs of pain or whatsoever.

'T-This boy… what unique ski-" She was not allowed to finish her thoughts. An incoming strike from behind, revealed to be Naruto's chain, grazed her right at the arm. Alice winced, feeling an intense burning sensation right where she was grazed. 'Wha- What are these chains?' the puppeteer thought incredulously. An attack from a normal chain shouldn't have wounded her in the first place, but this chain is far from normal. Aside from the intense pain she's getting, she also feels her magic decreasing.

"Hey don't ignore me doll face!" the boy jumped, catching up to Alice in the air. He brought his hands together, balling them into fists. With a cry, he outstretched them to the woman. "Take this! **Falling glutton!**" more chains started to form from the boy's arms, all of them are aiming for Alice. He knew that the quickest and easiest way to beat her is to aim for her directly, a puppeteer is highly vulnerable when it comes to close ranged attacks after all.

Seeing the incoming danger, the puppeteer summons more puppets or dolls to her aid. "Hourai, Shanghai!" she called for her two famous dolls. She was aggravated by the fact that she is forced to even use her two most trusty dolls. Beating the boy is harder than what she thought. The two dolls' eyes shine a bright golden color, intimidatingly. Then a decent sized golden laser shoots out from the two dolls' eyes, taking Naruto's incoming chains head on.

"Tch… wasn't expecting that…" so this girl is also combat efficient… especially deadly with her puppets. He needs to change his tactics, charging in like what he had planned to do isn't going to work well now that he know that she can do something like that. Pulling his chains back, he later dropped down to the ground, dodging Alice's incoming laser along the way. The puppeteer focused her attention on the boy, her dolls are on standby.

"Let's see how you'll handle this doll face…" the shinobi muttered with a hint of attitude, his lips stretched to a battle manic grin. The chains that are wrapped around his arms grew redder, making it even more intimidating. They then multiply, almost like metallic tentacles that could rip someone to shreds just by grabbing it. Naruto vanished from the spot he was in, this sudden development caused Alice to be surprised.

"Impossi-GURK!" A knee was planted to Alice's gut, the doll maker spits out blood and saliva combined, her golden eyes wide in surprise and shock. 'H-How… this is…' but Naruto's sudden attack did not stop there. He turns and delivers a roundhouse kick to Alice. The kick connects, hitting Alice right in the face. The force of the kick sent the girl stumbling away, in mid-air. She tried hard to regain control of her flight, but to her fortune, she managed to keep flight.

Naruto dashed forward, chaining his attacks by delivering an incoming chain whip to the Youkai. But all of the times where she was forced to dodge Reimu's Fantasy Seal was put to action. She swooped down, dodging the chain whip. She soars up, her dolls shooting out bullet patterned projectiles at Naruto.

The ninja dodged them while he was falling, doing whatever dodging maneuver he could do. Of course, this doesn't mean that he is safe from being grazed or even hit from Alice's attacks. The shots have actually started to sting. Naruto winced, but refusing to show that he is in pain. Landing on a nearby branch, he crouched instinctively, dodging an incoming doll. He looked back and was graced by the sight of explosion.

"These things explode…" he muttered. Having no time to be in daze, he quickly aim for the puppeteer once again. His chains extended, Naruto went for Alice. The Youkai was doing a good job on avoiding Naruto's incoming chains, she flies in a pattern, while shooting off bullets to fend off the chains in any way she could. But whatever method she tried are useless. The chains won't break, nor they show a sign of stopping. It's as if Naruto has full control of his chains. Almost making them an extension of him.

Alice was busy dodging the incoming chains that are after her, she failed to notice another chain suddenly aimed in front of her. With no time to react, she could only tilt her head sideways, avoiding critical damage. But was struck right at the shoulder blades, causing a rather deep gash. Alice bit her lips in pain, feeling blood seeping out from her back rapidly. The wound is deep, and the fact that she was hit by those chains of his leaves her weakened.

"What are these chains…? I felt weak suddenly…" the blonde doll maker managed to gasp out, her figure heaving. She is panting hard. This is the second time she was hit by Naruto's chains. It looks like those chains are draining her energy out from her, this is dangerous. If she were to reach zero, then there's no guarantee that she will win this match.

"Come on… is that all doll face? You got anything else?" the Uzumaki taunted with a cocky smirk. He said it before and he'll say it again, pissing his opponent is something he's good at. This works for all people, even the level headed ones like Alice. He has faced different types of people before. Some are annoying, and some are twice as that. But they all have the same thing: They're practically a bitch when they're angry.

Angered by the fact that he is not taking this seriously, Alice thinks that it's time to take this up a notch. Her puppets assemble close to her, all are on standby in an almost army like position. Then, weapons like lances, swords, mallets, knives and other thinkable weapons, are being hold by the dolls. Naruto narrowed his eyes, his guard steadily going up. It seems that she's no longer holding back…

"**Doll maker's death!"**

In an instant, all dolls began to lunge at him with terrifying speed. The fact that they are carrying both sharp and blunt weapons, adds up the scary factor. Naruto clicked his tongue, this is going to get ugly. He dodged back, taking a short retreat to the trees. Underneath the cover of a tree is where he'll be safe. The dolls will be having a hard time trying to kill him like this.

At least that's what he thought.

A doll with a knife managed to pierce him right in the shoulders. Naruto ignored the pain, but another door, this time with a lance as big as a kunai, pierced him in the other shoulder. Soon later, the blonde ninja finds himself to be stabbed, injured, by the dolls like a pin cushion. It's amazing that none of the dolls hit his vital areas like the heart or jugular vein. If so, he could be in major shit right now. His legs are immobilized, meaning that he can't use it when dolls are sticking their knives into them.

He bit the urge to scream, seeing that it won't help him. Not to mention, he's used to feeling this kind of thing.

Alice, slightly worn up and bruised, floats down near the immobilized teen. Her breathing ragged and stomach hurting, she really wasn't expecting someone, who is not an Oni, to hit that hard. That kick that he delivered was somewhere near Suika's level. "Do… you… give up…" the blonde doll maker asked, more puppets appear behind her, trying to convince the boy to surrender.

But unfortunately for dear Alice, she doesn't know what type of person Naruto is.

"Like hell I will."

"Wha!"

Massive power outburst bursts out from the blonde human. Alice was forced down to the ground, hitting the rough ground hard. The energy that hit her is like fire. It burns, yet it does not sting. It's… vile. Evil. Almost like poison to her. She looked, her form shaking while maintaining her eyes on the boy. Her dolls are melting as if they were ice, just what manner of power is this!? Even for an outsider, this is too much. No, this is too much for an outsider!

The burst of energy coming from the boy ended, leaving Alice in a shocked aftermath. Now free of the dolls, Naruto glared at the puppeteer with the eyes of a shinobi. It caused the reaction that he wanted. He figured out earlier that, since this place is bound on using this non-lethal method of fighting, they are not really accustomed to killing or being killed. So being a horrible jerk he is, he'll use that as his advantage.

Those eyes that Alice saw changed. Gone was the friendly and bright cheerful blue. They are replaced with a murderous, if not cold, and deadly eyes. Even if she's a Youkai, killing does not sit very well in her books. It does make sense as to why people kill, but it just feels wrong to do it without a proper reason. From just looking at those eyes of his, she could already see that this person is a killer. A deadly killer. Maintaining a firm front, Alice stood up to her feet, her dolls on standby behind her.

"I've underestimated you doll face, I really have." The male blonde started, his voice serious. "It looks like that I'll have to show you how sorry I am, huh?" red energy seeped out from his very being. Soon, the energy started to become thicker, and thicker. It began to look like he's being covered by a crimson cloak of death. "I won't kill, as per the rule of this fight. I don't really like doing that anyway. What I will do, however is…

He raised his hands, head lowered causing his expression to be shadowed.

"…surrender this match." Then he flops down to the ground.

…

…

"Eh?"

Alice heard a rumbling noise coming from the other blonde's stomach. To prove her point, the shinobi clutched his stomach, a painful expression on his face. "H-Hungry… need… food…"

"Eh... EEEEH?!"

Today is the most eventful day of her life.

* * *

Somewhere in Gensokyo, two figures are having a conversation amidst themselves. Their presence are well hidden, it takes the skill of a skillful sensor to be able to even feel where they are right now. The sky is slowly changing into night, the moon is just about ready to shine its light upon the calm and peaceful land. But… trouble is nearer than the shortest of sticks.

"Report Captain. The Rogue is here."

"Hm. Search the area, I want the Rogue brought here as soon as possible. Search the whole land if you have to."

"Yes Captain."

The other voice, male, ends, signaling his leave. Only one figure is left on the tree top, a figure with a blank white mask and a black scarf to hide his neck. The figure is no doubt a male, his hair and figure could easily show that. He is dressed in a uniform type of clothing, complete with the armor and pouches. A sword, judging from the length, it could be a ninjato, is strapped to his back. His scarf, the embodiment of darkness itself, billows under the chilling and cold night of winter. The cold is the least of his worries. All his and his subordinate's priorities are only one. The Rogue.

"Hm. Uzumaki Naruto…" the man's voice trailed out, almost calling. "I'm afraid that I will need to bring you home. Danzo-sama doesn't take too kindly on absentees." He then faced the sky, the slowly night changing sky. "I will find you, even if it kills me. After all, you can't just easily cut the _root_ of your problems."

Just like a shadow enveloped in light, he disappeared.

* * *

**A/N: Wow… this is… this is. It's short as fuck. Not much happened, except for Naruto and Alice's fight and that little plot twist in the end. I'm starting to think that trouble will definitely be better if it arrives sooner than what most people expected. This also means that I'll have to make more actions scenes. This will be fun… for the readers, not for me.**

**Anyway, an important announcement here. For the next few weeks, I will be taking a break on writing. I'm in my important year of high school and IGCSE is something that I must focus on. Not to mention, I will also need to take the exam that my school is giving off. But on one condition: I must at least work six hours a month in order to take the exams, if I don't, I won't be taking the exams. School is really a bitch.**

**I really hope that college is better.**

**Anyway, aside from my ranting and the important announcement, the next chapter release will be either my Narutouhou series or Flandre Scarlet is in my house. Just tell me in the reviewers section which one do you guys want to see more. Other than that, I'm happy to say that I've been getting positive views from you guys. It's totally awesome knowing that someone is appreciating your works. **

**The emails that I've been receiving about this chapter are crazy. I'm also interested in these types of stories, been a while since has ever had a good Naruto Crossover… I really need to focus on other things instead of Touhou right now. What do you all say? Me , Naruto, and Type-moon? Or maybe, Me, Touhou and Castlevania? Please PM me if you're interested in the idea and if you have any suggestion for plots and other related things. **

**Anyway, it's time for me to go now. I have… things… that I need to do. See ya, have a good day/night!**


	4. I need a doctor

"Just so you know, it's not like I lost okay? I was just… hungry, yeah, hungry."

"Ugh… I felt as if I have just experienced the biggest epiphany in my whole entire life right now…"

Naruto is NOT a sore loser. He is not. If he lost, then he lost. If he won, then he won. But there are circumstances in a fight, especially when one were to be raised in a ninja environment. Basically, ninja, they cheat. They are dirty little fuckers who do nothing except to follow orders and kill. Naruto, no matter how he dislikes that statement, has to agree with that.

Being a ninja for him is the most special and scariest decision that he has ever made in his life. It's special because, well, he is now a ninja. He gets paid, he gets to travel, he gets to put his abilities to use and it's better than to just work manual labor like most of the civilians do. But it can also be scary because of the risk that he must take.

A ninja's job is to kill. If you can't kill, you'll be the one killed instead. He knows this very well, he has accepted it when he decided to become a ninja. His instructors at the academy reminded him every day that a ninja, no matter what rank or position you are, will have to kill in the end. It is something inevitable, if one could say.

But back to losing. He isn't particularly keen on losing, he tries his best and his all to not lose in combat at all cost. That would just be plain suck. That's why he trains, he developed his own way of fighting, his own style. Where other ninjas chose to rely on jutsus or other forms of nin, gen, tai, or even ken jutsus, he combined all of them into one.

Currently inside the dining room of Alice's house, he is eating a bowl full of soup. He is not sure what's the content of the soup is, but it's damn good. The male blonde looks away from the staring woman, but his hand is still feeding his mouth full of soup. "But I must admit, if used properly, danmaku could be pretty cool."

"Cool? Not awesome?" the other blonde teased, emitting nothing from the male.

"Hey, it takes more than killer dolls to be marked as awesome in my books. If you could like… create something from nothingness then we'll talk more." Shrugged the blonde shinobi, finishing his soup. He looked outside the window that is available inside the dining room. It's getting late outside, he better go back to the human village.

Getting out from his chair, Naruto is ready to leave. "Well, thanks for the fight and the food doll face. I'll make sure to visit some other time." But as he was just about to excuse himself out from the house, he was stopped in mid-way through.

"Wait. Aren't you still going to ask me where does Yakumo Yukari live?" Alice asked, making sure if he hadn't forget the main reason as to why he's here. She enjoyed the fight and all, not to mention that she could also learn some things from the male, but if he were to leave forgetting whatever information that she had told him, it will only be useless.

Naruto waved her question off. Crossing his arms with a thinking expression on his face, Naruto said. "Hm… after some thinking, finding this gap woman isn't as easy as I thought it would be."

_'Well duh…'_ the puppeteer thought with a drop of sweat.

"So, I'll be exploring instead." He clasped his hands in excitement. A grin appeared on his face, and his eyes seem to have doubled on the brightness effect. "Any suggestion as to where I'll go? I know the human village already, and I don't want to go there just yet." He said to Alice.

"Hmm…" thinking, Alice is trying to come up with a place where Naruto could visit. Suggesting outsiders to go to dangerous places like – actually, scratch that. The Forest of Magic IS a dangerous place, and Naruto is the type of person who can take care of himself. She's sure that he won't mind getting into a little scuffle or two with some random Youkai. In any case, it is the Youkai that she'll pity, not the man. She could put up with the boy's fighting, but not on his attitude. In all honest opinion, he is like Marisa and that Celestial girl combined. Both stupid and stubborn.

"There is a place called the Bamboo Forest of The Lost. It should be an interesting place to go for sightseeing, but as the name suggests, you will get lost the moment you step foot inside of the forest." With a teasing smile, she shifts her sitting position. "Though I'm sure that a person like you won't have any trouble in finding his way back home, right?"

At that, Naruto scoffed. Shaking his head, he gave the doll maker an annoyed glare. "Don't patronize me." His reaction only caused the woman's smile to stretch wider. This annoyed the male blonde even further. Sighing, he got no choice. "Well, I'll be sure to visit the place. But I swear doll face, if I won't be back and it's all because of a stupid reason of getting lost… I know who to blame."

Alice raised her hands in defense, though that does not erase the teasing smile on her face. "Oh, I am merely suggesting you for a place to visit. The choice whether you will go there or not is entirely up to you. You can't blame me for something that I was asked to do, right? Especially if the person is the one who asks for the suggestion himself."

"Urgh… f-fine." The boy huffed, admitting defeat. "I'll visit the place. Then, excuse me and thank you for the food."

"Y-Yeah, please, let me see you out."

Walking Naruto to her door, she soon later says her goodbye to the young human. Closing the door, Alice sighed for unknown reasons. If she has to admit, Naruto is probably the most different and eccentric human she has ever meet. Not even Reimu and Marisa is that… blunt… when it comes to talking. Okay, maybe Reimu is, but it's different.

Deciding that she had enough of the day, she turned in early to her bed.

* * *

"Dai-chan, c'mon! We need to meet up with Wriggle-chan so that we can catch some fireflies tonight!"

"E-Eh wait for me Cirno-chan!"

Everyone knows of the ice fairy. She is considered to be a nine ball or an idiot. Just like any other fairies, she looks just like a child. Her stature short and face round. Aside from being an idiot or a nine ball, she is also the self-proclaimed strongest being in Gensokyo. For her, every day is a play day. There are also times where she must attend school, or else Keine-sensei will head-butt her into next week.

Still. That doesn't stop the ice fairy to play with her friend, Daiyousei. Or Dai-chan, as she would like to her.

The blue haired, boisterous ice fairy swoosh down, her flight in a joyed daze. Her friend, a green haired fairy with a pair of dragonfly like wings, follows from behind, her thought concerned for her easy going friend. "Wait up Cirno-chan!" Daiyousei shouted, intending for her friend to wait for her. But as usual, it takes more than just words to keep her friend to a stop.

"Ahaha! Come on Dai-chan, Wriggle's house not far from here." She suddenly slows down, her face transforming from bright joy to confusion. "…right?" then returns the previous expression. She points her finger to the dark and starless sky, as if ready to take on the world any second. "Who cares? We'll get there in no time!"

"M-Moh! Cirno-chan, wa~it, we'll get really lost if we don't know where to go. Keine-sensei will head-butt us…" the green haired fairy uttered the last particular part fearfully. She has trauma when it comes to their friendly, yet scary sensei. When she is in a good mood, she is really nice. But whenever they do something wrong, she'll head-butt them altogether. Who can head-butt four people at the same time anyway?

The ice fairy's face went bitter as soon as she heard the words 'head' and 'butt'. Like her friend, she isn't so keen on getting knocked out unconscious into next week. "Urk… eh… eh… well whatever! We'll go to Wriggle's house anyway, we'll be safe because Aye'm the strongest!" she did a fist pump, her small fist piercing the air.

Daiyousei could only sigh, knowing better that there's no helping Cirno when it comes to situations like these… seriously, she had been questioning herself, why is she hanging around with Cirno? The scariest part is that she doesn't know the answer herself. So, she tries to avoid thoughts like these. Knowing that it would only hinder her. Shaking her head to clear it off from the unwanted thoughts, the green haired fairy began floating towards her friend.

"Cirno-chan. Don't you think that we are already lost…?" she looked around, finding herself in an environment that even she is alien with. There are tall bamboos all over the place, they grow as if they are grass. Technically, they are, but it is unknown to the green haired fairy. This must be the rumored 'Bamboo Forest of The Lost'. The name itself triggers Daiyousei's panic. "M-Maybe we should return, it's dark already anyway…"

However for Daiyousei, Cirno isn't exactly easy to convince. "Psh! It's fine. Aye have a really great eye, we won't get lost even if it's in the dark." The ice fairy simply brushes off her friend's worry with a giant grin. "And it's night, everyone's asleep, so we won't really meet any bad Youkais around."

Still, Cirno's words did not ease Daiyousei up one bit. Knowing that Daiyousei has no other choice but to trust her best friend, she nodded and sighed. "I guess it's fine… but we better move now, this place is scary…"

"I don't know where we should go though." Cirno declared without the slightest bit of shame.

"Cirno-chan!" forget about it, she's really panicked right now. Daiyousei, not really used to being outside late at night, panicked. Her legs are quivering and her mind's filled to the brim with nothing but worry. She was warned by Keine-sensei to never enter the bamboo forest, it will only cause herself trouble. People get lost here, as if the name itself wasn't enough.

While the green haired fairy is panicking, Cirno looked around with her palm over her eyes and her eyes narrowed. "Hm… Aye can't really see…"

"B-But you say that-"

"No worries! Aye'll just fly and look where we are supposed to go!" Before Daiyousei could stop her literally ice cold friend, Cirno was already halfway to the top of bamboo. She eventually reached the top, where she does indeed have gotten a wider view of things. But even if she can see the whole place from up here, she can't see any single pathways due to them possibly being covered by these bamboos.

"Cirno-chaaaaan! Don't go without me!" the other fairy wailed pathetically from behind. She can't really stand being alone.

"Shh Dai-chan!" Cirno signals her friend to be silent. "Aye'm trying to look for Wriggle's house right now…" Daiyousei isn't exactly convinced since there aren't even any pathways around for them to look at. The night is cold, though maybe it's just because of winter. Being close with Cirno has some perks of its own. For example, due to Cirno producing cold everywhere she goes, she had somehow developed a strong resistance towards the element. Though it's not exactly useful when it's summer, but it sure is handy when it's winter.

With nothing to do, Daiyousei decided to help her friend by looking around. As expected, nothing is of the ordinary. Bamboos… snows… bamboos… snows… the moon… oh look a phoenix.

…

…

A PHOENIX?!

"Cirno-chan watch ou-!"

* * *

**With Naruto at the same time…**

* * *

"Fuck!" the blonde haired shinobi cursed when he limps his way to a nearby tree. Blood was pouring from all over his body. His legs, his chest, his sides and his hands… doll face did a number on him, but he too can tell that she took quite the damage. The bandages that Alice gave him are beginning to get soaked in blood. He hates it when things don't go his way. Still, this is nothing. He has suffered worse after all.

Taking a huge breath in, he begins to feel fine already. Though he can't exactly run or anything, jumping through the trees using chakra won't be a problem for him. As for his wounds, his regeneration should kick in soon. Maybe sooner, depending on a certain _somebody's_ mood. Shaking his head to take his mind off from things, the blonde then continues his walk towards the direction that Alice told him.

…

Wait…

"GOD FREAKING DAMMIT!" he forgot to ask the woman for directions! How stupid of him! The blonde ninja kneeled in despair over his own idiocy. Sometimes people are right, he is an idiot. He'll just hope that he won't be lumped in with another idiot.

He suddenly heard a really loud sneeze.

"Ungh… no use in being here, might as well just return to the human village and find an inn or something." He opened his wallet, a small clip wallet in a shape of a frog. "Still have money and I better be spending it soon on food and housing." He couldn't exactly camp outside in the wilderness. After learning about Youkais and whatnot? No thank you. The blonde looked around, he finds himself in another place. This place is really narrow, as it is surrounded by tall bamboos all over.

This must be it. The place that Alice mentioned, the bamboo forest of the lost. "Huh… maybe my sense of direction isn't bad after all." He muttered to himself. The place is dark, it's already late at night. He should be getting sleepy, but he isn't. Though he arrived at his destination, he really needs to be careful to not get 'lost' in place with a name as obvious as he suggest. But knowing his shitty luck, he knows that's impossible.

After walking for what seems to be eternity, he gets deeper and deeper into the forest. The deeper he walks, the darker it gets. He has no problems with the dark. In fact, it's beneficial for him if he were to encounter Youkais. Well, he would try to take them on. But if that doesn't work, there is always a strategical retreat.

"I won't go anywhere like this." The teen looked up, seeing the moon and its ever bright light. "Hm… could use a vantage point." He bent his legs slightly, before jumping to one of the many bamboos up there. Using his ninja trained skill to get to the tallest bamboo shoot there is, he reached the top with ease, using chakra to prevent from falling. Perched up on top of the bamboo shoot gives him great visibility of the area he's seen.

"Wow…" he whistled. "This place is really something." Seeing from a tall vantage point gives him a clear look on how this bamboo forest of the lost looks like. He may not have the ability to fly, but who says that you need to fly to reach high places? Speaking of places, this place is like a thick shrub of bamboo. There are a lot of bamboos here, he could even walk on top of them casually with little trouble.

In the middle of his sightseeing, an explosion occurred not too far from here. Like what normal people would do, he immediately look on the direction where the explosion occurred. Smoke is visible, and more explosion follows. He can't quite see who or what is causing the explosion, but something tells him that he's going to be involved in matters that are going to be troublesome for him.

"Meh, who the fuck cares."

* * *

"Hohoho… My immortal enemy Mokou," a voice, seemingly precious like a pearl necklace, stretched out in amusement. Her voice, while soft, is taunting. Though humor is laced within them, she really meant everything she said. Her eyes, peerless black like the embodiment of night itself is truly breathtaking. Her hair, as gentle and fragile as the finest silk is akin to that of a waterfall. Her skin, as white and pale as the moon makes a beautiful, if not perfect, contrast with her hair. Though her face, while charming, clearly reflects her true intentions.

"You damn whore…" an angry voice snarled out, her fury rivaling the Gods themselves. "I promised and I ain't going to take back what I said…" with furious red eyes, she became fire itself. "I will kill you and I will make your life miserable." She exploded, taking on the form of a giant, majestic bird. The symbol of immortality, the phoenix. "Kaguya!"

Her shout is laced in fury, and fire came soaring down from the heavens as if to support her very ideal. The other woman, the sheer embodiment of beauty herself, is still. It's as if she is used to seeing and facing this kind of scene before. Her face and expression, did not change. It seems that she has taken joy at seeing the other woman's raged and furious state, it's her drug, it's her ecstasy. With a smile that could be called lunatic, she pulled out a jeweled branch from her sleeves.

"Hmph, still as direct as ever aren't you, Mokou-tan?" she taunted, angering the other woman further.

"Don't you… screw with me!" as if the sun is present itself, the cold winter night began to grow hot. The sheer amount of heat that Mokou produced melts everything at least five meters away from her. The ice melts, the bamboo shoots burn, and snowflakes ceased to exist from the raw anger that Mokou is producing.

The black haired beauty, Kaguya, remains unfazed. She simply dodged, swiping her stance to the left and to the right. The flames managed to graze her hair, causing them to burn. But it soon extinguishes, due to the snow. What is weird, to the normal eyes, is that her hair regrew. It's almost as if she's regenerating her hair at a fast rate. Despite all that, she still managed to look beautiful throughout the entire process. She is truly befitting for the title of a Princess. A Princess, after all, is someone that managed to look beautiful in all situation.

Having enough of her fellow immortal's doing, she raised her jeweled branch. Beautiful, ornate like, jewels sized orbs began to appear. They soon spread out in a perfect pattern, almost uniformly. They caused the nearby bamboo to be made into splinters, the ground was nothing but a small crater. The Princess's streak did not stop there, she raised her branch even higher, taking pride in what she is doing.

"Come now little Mokou-tan, is that everything you have? You were a lot stronger in our last fight… does being dead makes you weaker?"

"Shut… Up!" Mokou's world exploded into fire, every single particle around her is nonexistent. Carbon, oxygen and even the moisture of water in the air is reduced into nothingness by her flames. With flames around her, akin to that of a protective cloak, Mokou glared daggers at her black haired counterpart. **"Immortal: Fire bird –Flying Phoenix!"** Red flaming orbs began to appear behind her as if the representation of her fury. They are highly lethal, if not a little bit of overkill. "This is it Kaguya!" she shouted, shooting all fiery orbs towards the black haired woman. "As long as you live… my flame will never die!"

The Princess clicked her tongue at how things have become. Tonight was supposed to be an easy night. Looks like getting her angry was a bad plan after all. Her calm expression returned. She took flight, skillfully and gracefully dodging all of the existing flaming bullets. Not a single scratch on her, nor there are burns. She looked so entrancing even while fighting.

"Hmph. Still as weak as ever. I shall show you what true strength is like!" the Princess pulled out a necklace from her other sleeve and with it, comes a sight that is both painful and beautiful at the same time. **"Divine Treasure: Brilliant dragon bullet!"** flurry of lasers and colorful orbs came at Mokou intimidatingly. The lasers seemed to have come in all directions, though the orbs are easier to follow. But memory serves Mokou at its best, knowing that her mind memorizes the wench's entire attack pattern.

The thing to know about fighting someone over and over again for thousands of years is that they will always increase the power behind their attacks. Thought their attack pattern might be different, it all comes down to how much power the user used to execute the attack. For Mokou, dodging is not a problem. It's keeping herself restrained, that's the problem. The last time she went berserk, is when she burned down nearly half of the bamboo in the forest. Fortunately, the bamboos here grow fast. So there's no reason to hold back. Still, she is not looking forward to get… 'possessed' again.

The two women exchange their words for Danmaku, choosing Gensokyo's preferable method of 'talking'. While unknown to them, there are eyes watching over them.

Unwanted eyes…

"…Status report."

"The both of them are going all out sir. We managed to detect an energy source from both of them but it is different than ours."

"Hm… something other than chakra…?" the voice muttered out in wonder.

"What is your orders sir?"

"We observe. The people here will be a major threat sooner or later. As soon as we find the Rogue, there's no guarantee that we won't be fighting one or two of them." the captain considered. "How goes the intelligence gathering?"

"Reports said that people do indeed saw a teenager befitting the Rogue's description. But as for his current known location… I'm afraid we have none."

"I see. Continue to observe, I will do the scouting ahead."

"Yes sir."

* * *

"Man…" a voice whistled out, absolutely in awe. "Doll face was right… this shit is awesome!" watching a danmaku match in an A-class front row seat is not something he expected to happen so soon. While he get that people here are quite trigger happy, he did not expect them to be this trigger happy. "Man… these bitches will give the ANBU a run for their money." The blonde haired ninja is leisurely perching himself on top of a bamboo. Thank ninja training for balance.

There isn't humor or exaggeration in his voice, only the truth. Truthfully speaking, ANBU won't stand a chance against people who fought like this. Flying, spamming fireballs and – are those lasers that he's seeing? Proven enough, he decided to settle and watch the entire fight happening before him.

"Huh… Reimu said that these danmaku aren't lethal… they must be pissing down each other's throat or something." The teenager muttered crudely. How is, by all definition, spamming flaming orbs twice the size of the human body and shooting lasers that pulverized everything it touches, not lethal? He'd seen lethal shit in his life, and none of them could be compared to this. At least not content wise.

An intense surge of heat wave suddenly brushed past him, forcing him to cover his face. After it subsides, he retracted both of his hands back. His face showing pure joy at the fight that was happening before his eyes. Never, never in his whole life has he ever seen something as epic as this. This is even more awesome than awesome! The blonde is definitely enjoying the show. Who wouldn't? He would piss on the Hokage monument if it gets him to watch a fight like this.

Though he has to admit, it's getting a little bit too dangerous for comfort. The more the flaming woman fights, the angrier she gets. Naruto could observe this easily, as he is sensitive to negative emotions such as hatred, anger and killing intent. Though he is more sensitive to the third. He moved back a good three meters away from the fight, for the sake of not getting involved in private matters. If this isn't private, then he don't know what else is.

As the ninja is busy observing the fight of the two women, he failed to notice of a presence coming from down below. "Now, time to head back-Wawaawawa shiiiiiiiiit!" he fell, feeling the bamboo that he was standing on suddenly shaking. He fell down to the deep bamboo forest, crashing down some bamboo shoots that have managed to soften his impact. But still making his body hurt.

"Wah! It's a boy!"

"C-Cirno-chan it's rude to point and let's get out of here… there are people fighting!"

The blonde haired shinobi, who is currently trying his best to ignore all the pain in his body, grimaced and winced at his own inconvenience. He managed to get on his feet, though a bit shaky, he still managed to open his eyes. He blinked as soon as he regained a proper vision. "Eh… who're you two?" he pointed, rudely.

"Hey! Pointing at people is rude you know?!" one of them, the one with the blue hair, shouted in anger. "Dai-chan says so!"

"Says the idiot who's doing the same thing!" Naruto countered, not willing to accept the fact that a little girl with wings is shouting at him.

"C-Cirno-chan, let's just talk this all out o-okay?" the other girl, this time with the green hair, tried to calm her friend down. But only to no avail.

"No way! This boy called me an idiot and Aye'm not an idiot!" she jumps back, and brought her hands close to her face. "Aye'll show you who's the idiot now…" things are getting colder. It's an unhealthy mix between cold and heat, due to the fight that is currently transpiring.

Naruto narrowed his own eyes, azure blue getting serious and annoyed. "You'll regret what you said little girl… I'ma show you who's the idiot here, dummy." He began to ooze of red energy. The way that they seeps out of his body is to intimidate the two girls in front of him. While it works on the other one, this Cirno girl is stubborn.

"Ha! The we'll just have to see!" She spread out her arms, causing hundreds if not thousands of blue icy bullets to appear behind her. "Take this, **Freeze Sign: Minus K!**" if Naruto was pissed before, he's furious now. He mentioned of him hating cold. The fact that it is already winter and the fact that this girl is making colder is the reason why he's furious. The boy was instantly envelope in the cold winter like blizzard. It was warm not too long ago, due to the other fight happening, but it's freezing right now. Not to mention, he has some dodging to do.

"You… little…" he managed to raise his hands. **"Katon: Dragon flame technique!"** a dragon like flame shoots out of Naruto's mouth. The two fairies are startled by this development. The two fairies managed to dodge the incoming fire by flying out of harm's way.

"Wah! He's using fire just like that white haired lady!"

"L-Let's just get out of here okay Cirno-chan… he-he's scary…"

"No!" Cirno strongly refused. "Aye'll show him who's stronger, Aye'll show him that I'm the strongest in Gensokyo! Take this, **Snow Sign: Diamond blizzard!**" truly a display of icy fury. All of the ice bullets coming in from literally all angles there are, Naruto is having a hard time dodging them all. Especially if he's not in the right state to fight. His earlier battle wound still hasn't healed, his not so little tenant is away for the moment.

Cursing, the ninja was hit by one of the bullets coming his way. Cirno saw this and cheered. "See! Aye got him, Aye got him!" more and more bullets started to hit him. Slowly, his body is getting numb from the cold. He can't move his hands, nor can he move his feet. All he can do is watch as his body is spammed by countless freezing bullets. He clicked his tongue in irritation. He'll need to get serious from this point onwards.

"**Uzumaki: Kusari." **

"Dai-chan, Aye got him, Aye got him Aye got- uuuuuuwaaaaaah!" a chain pierced the cheering fairy right in the chest.

"CIRNO-CHAN!" Her friend shouted in panic.

"W-What is this…" The ice fairy managed to gasped out. There is no pain, something odd for her. Usually, when she accidentally stabbed herself, there is a little pain. But this… there's no pain at all. Only fatigue. She felt so tired. The chain exits the fairy's small body, returning to its owner. Cirno fell to the ground, unable to move.

"Cirno-chan! Cirno-chan! Talk to me!" her friend is on the verge of tears. While she know that they, fairies, can't exactly die, it is still shocking on having to watch her friend dying. "P-Please Cirno-chan… talk to me…" she cried, unable to restrain her tears any longer. She wept soundly, saying her friend's name over and over again.

As for our lovable blonde, he isn't doing so well. Aside from the whole and total numbness of his body, he can feel a very potent and raw energy inside of him. _'Shit! This… what is this… this is Nature Chakra!? Just what the heck is that girl…'_ he can't speak, seeing that his throat is preventing him from doing so. His chakra chains, aside from being able to drain the opponent's chakra or energy, they are also able to absorb the opponent's energy. He was expecting for his body to be working again, not getting poisoned by Nature Energy.

'Fuck!' he's in all kinds of shit right now. His body frozen, he can't do anything to unfreeze it. Wait… he can, but only if he could bring his hands together…

**"Everlasting: Phoenix's tail!"**

Or not.

He didn't know whether to thank the person who just shot a random fireball at him or to show them a piece of his brain. Suffice to say, he managed to move again due to his body regaining heat instantly. That, and he is also suffering from major burns. But nothing that a little medical technique couldn't fix.

"Guh… I swear, if this place won't kill me, then I don't know what will…" he looked around, trying to find a safe spot on where he could heal his body. The two girls are gone it seems, he did kind of stabbed one of them through the chest with his chains. No use in thinking about them now, he needs to find a safe spot. His body won't last if he were to get caught up in another fight. It's no easy task to find a hiding place under heavy fire from the two people who are fighting on air, so he just dive straight for the nearest bamboo shrubs he could find.

"Whew… I should be safe here…" It's narrow but cold. It is also a safe temporary resting place for him. Anyway, he really needs to get his body fixed quickly. The blonde shinobi opened his pouch, grabbing a small black pill like object. His face made a bitter expression upon remembering what this pill tastes like. "Well… cheers." He chomped the pill down, breaking it into small pieces. He painfully ignores the bitterness and other unworldly sensation this pill is currently lashing out to his tongue. After a while, he swallows the pill, leaving nothing else in his mouth.

He can feel the effect of the pill almost instantly. His chakra system is getting refreshed, and his body too. Even though these things tastes like shit, it's good shit. He looked around. He needs to get out from this place, but it's easier than done. The place is called the Bamboo Forest of The Lost, and he is lost. His only hope are the two women who are fighting each other right now. But he is not going to stop and ask for directions from those two…

Think, think… where did he come from, this place is seriously a bitch. Is this why doll face sent him here? That bitch…

* * *

"Achoo!" The seven colored puppeteer sneezed suddenly. She blinked before looking outside the window. "Hm… I don't think that he'll meet them so soon." She shrugged. "Oh well, better visit Eientei tomorrow."

* * *

"Haah… haaah…" both woman are tired, yes, but their energy will soon replenish due to their unique condition. Mokou, the ever so furious woman, glared at her counterpart with intent to kill. "I'll… end you… with this last… Spell…" the fatigue is evident, but she raised her hand and a golden spell card materialized within it.

Kaguya, who is in the same exhausted state Mokou is in, shook her head. "No… _I_ will be the one to end you." Her five treasures floating right behind her. "This will be it Mokou-tan… show me how much stronger have you become!"

"Kaguuuuyaaaa!"

"Mokouoooooo!"

It was literally one hell of a night.

* * *

"Oh… where the hell am I?" hurting head, checked. Tired body, checked. Voice hoarse, checked. Having the urge to jump and shout, uncheck. He was unconscious and now he is awake. As expected, he is in a hospital of some sort. As if the smell itself wasn't obvious.

"Ah, you're awake." Tired blue eyes landed on a person that they have never met before in their entire life. First of all, if Tsunade of the Sannin were to have a sister, this person would be the perfect match. Aside from the similarity of their assets, this woman gives off the same feeling that Tsunade gives off whenever she would do a check up on him.

"My…" the woman drawled out, noticing his staring. "Just awake and you're already active… my, my…"

"Hmph." Naruto looked away. "Piss off woman, now get me off from this thing." He gestured to the needle on his hand.

The woman, who is no doubt the doctor, shook her head. "Sorry, can't let you go just yet. You will still need to rest. Your body suffered from multiple stab wounds, and the burn that you are suffering in your chest is serious."

Naruto opened his shirt, revealing… nothing. "What burn?"

The doctor is silent. She took out a notebook and began to jot things down. "Interesting… how do you feel?" the doctor asked.

"Peachy."

"Hmhm… good. How's your body?"

"Fanfuckingtastic."

"How's your head?"

"How's yours?"

… The pen that the doctor was using stopped halfway to the notebook. She took a moment before answering the boy. "Fine, thank you. Now… who is your name?"

"Naruto Uzumaki. Shinobi extraordinaire and the world's number one badass. You?" the blonde teen gestured to the silver haired doctor.

"Eirin Yagokoro. The doctor of the house." She introduced herself smoothly.

"Hm, nice knowing you." Naruto pulled out the needle from his hand, feeling no pain in removing it. He grabbed his pouch that was placed on a table near him, he turned to the nearest door and slides it open. He paused. Or stopped, to be more accurate. Without looking around, he asked, "You have something that you want to say to me don't you?"

"Oh?" Eirin fake surprised. "Whatever it is do I have for you?"

"Don't play dumb with me woman…" Naruto hissed out in annoyance.

Eirin chuckled. "Those pills that you carry… I'll be taking them for payment for your stay here." She pulled out a container containing three of Naruto's soldier pills.

"Heh." The blonde haired shinobi scoffed. "I doubt that you're the one who brought me here…"

"Never say I was. I was, however, the one who brought you back all conscious and moody." The doctor shrugged. "There is someone waiting for you outside, and I do suggest speaking to her properly…" she narrowed her eyes. "She's in the room to the left."

Naruto needed no more. He closed the door and stepped into the wooden hallway of this mansion like clinic. The room to the left… there's no other door aside from the farthest one on the corner. So maybe that is it? Well whatever, it's not he's lost already. He walked towards the room, when he reached the door, he slides it open with one arm.

"Excuse me." He says. He could just say nothing, but seeing that he's too tired to deal with other troublesome things, he'll stick to being polite. The room is spacious, almost too spacious. It's empty and bare, not even a single form of decoration. Truthfully, this room is most perfect for isolation. It's quiet and so… secluded from the world outside.

"Ah… you've awaken." A female voice came out from the room. Naruto finds himself staring face to face with an incredibly beautiful woman. She is dressed in a pink shirt with many white bows, and a long, dark burgundy skirt decorated in yellow with bamboo and flower shapes. Her hair is jet black, a perfect match of her pale skin. Her eyes are deep black, almost seductive.

"Greetings, I am Kaguya Houraisan, it is a pleasure to meet you…"

"Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki."

"Uzumaki-dono." She did a polite bow, something that those of loyalty would do to their guests. Her eyes twinkled in amusement at the lack of reaction that the boy is giving out. Normally, men regardless of age, would always be captivated by the mere sight of her. But this boy, he isn't like those men.

"Just Naruto is fine." The boy brushed off the honorific that the lady gave him.

Kaguya giggled charmingly. "Very well, Naruto-dono it is then." She settled in with that title. She then coughs lightly. "I would like to re-introduce myself, I am sure that you… _enjoyed_… last night's show, don't you?"

So she knows… "Ah, well, yes. I did enjoy it. It was one of the most… memorable fights that I have seen in my life." Naruto said with obvious sarcasm.

The Princess takes on his humor well enough. "I see… then if it pleases you, would you like to see more?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "More what? More fight?"

"No." Kaguya shook her head. "More of me."

…

…

"Are you… okay?" Naruto asked, worried.

"Oh, yes, I am fine." Kaguya responded. "I am perfectly fine. What I am saying is this, will you, Naruto Uzumaki-dono, be mine from now on until forever?"

What… the… fuck…?

* * *

**A/N: Ugh… I don't even… well, there it goes guys. One hell of a chapter. Nothing much happened, but what has caused Kaguya to be so interested in our lovable blonde in the end? Will be revealed in the next chapter? Of course it will! Now, you lot must be disliking the fact that there are ROOT ANBU searching for Naruto. Don't worry, things will happen later on. I can't say when, but it will.**

**Now, as to where Naruto stands in the Gensokyo level… let's just say that he's above above good? He's not Reimu-good, nor is he Sakuya level good. He is just very, very strong. But easy to exhaust. Think of him as a tank. He absorbs damage and deal damage at the same time. While it may be pale compared to what the other characters in Gensokyo could do, it is still mysterious and scary. You saw what he could do with his chains in this chapter. Poor Cirno-chan… **

**Anyway, that is all for today. To tell you guys the truth, I am actually sick right now. My vocal cord is swollen, which means that I can't speak temporarily or properly for that matter. When I tried to speak, I sounded like a horny gorilla and my throat hurts. I don't really get what the doctor was saying, but he told me to rest on speaking for about a week. So, I get to communicate with people using my phone. **

**FML.**

**But, don't ever forget to show your love through reviews or even drop this story into your favorites. Please, have a good day/night.**


	5. Old wounds treated

"Excuse me?"

Dead silent. The blonde's reply to the black haired Princess's question was also a question. The only difference is, his questioning is more genuine. His face, both shocked and dumbfounded, clearly reflects what he's feeling.

Suddenly, the woman herself burst into a fit of giggles. This only caused the young teenager to be even more clueless than before, if the blinking of his eyes didn't show his confusion, then he didn't know what else will. "Hahah… I'm sorry, I was merely jesting." This time, the woman's smile becomes honest, totally different from the suspicious kind that she was showing before. Her posture gradually relaxed, this caused him to act the same way too.

"Ah… you were joking… hehehe…" the blonde laughed humorlessly, his eye twitching.

His reaction caused the woman in front of him to giggle even more. She's definitely having her fun time messing with him… "Sorry, that was rude of me Naruto-dono." Despite all of this, she still maintains honorifics. "Please, don't take it to heart." She did a light bow, showing a form of apology.

The blonde wave her apology off, while crossing his arms at the same time. "It's fine… no need to worry about it." He seriously can't get mad at a woman who apologized after admitting that she's in the wrong, that'll be uncool of him. He coughed into his fist, trying to get to the main reason as to why he's here. "So, what do you need from me?"

Kaguya swept a curtain of black hair, she really needs her hair cut. Her black eyes flickered over to his pair of azure blue. "Nothing much, I'm just sure that an outsider like you have a lot to tell us folks here, hmm?" she asked while fluttering her eye lids.

Naruto scratched his whiskered cheek, unsure of how to answer. So, he'll ask instead. "What makes you think that I'm an outsider?"

Kaguya simply point a finger over at him. "Your clothes of course. People here don't dress like you do, especially not with a color like that." She joked with good intentions.

The blonde shinobi actually look offended. "Hey, don't diss the orange." He hugged his form to express his exaggeration. "Tis but a fine color." Countered the young man to the woman.

Kaguya took in his sense of humor well, but little did she know, he wasn't even joking. "Ufufu… indeed. Now," she clasped her hands, expectation pooling on her eyes. "how was your life?"

So he's in a counseling now? He just got his body patched up, and now he's in for a counseling? Man… he should've just returned to the human village. Regardless, he still answers. "Not much, just… the usual for a shinobi." He noticed the look of realization on her face at the mentioning of shinobi.

"You are a shinobi?" from her voice, he could already tell that she is surprised. Kaguya had her palm covering her mouth, while her face expressing her shock. "But you're so young. I'm sure that your parents talked with you…?" for once, he actually noticed the concern on her voice.

But he scoffed, looking away in a huff. "It doesn't matter when you don't have them in the first place." He shrugged. Despite how the way he acted, he is not offended. "Besides, if they're still alive, I'm sure that they'll be kicking some asses with me." He declared with a bit of pride. Until he remembered what the doctor said to him about being polite.

"Heeh? Interesting… tell me more."

From there onwards, it became more of a story telling for the Princess instead of a counseling session for the boy. He told her about some few things. About the ninja academy, about the graduation exams and even some ninja techniques. Throughout the entire explanation, the black haired Princess is showing enthusiasm in listening to him. He never really thought that someone would love to listen to the boring everyday life of a ninja. For him, his whole life, before him entering Gensokyo, is actually lacking in action. Aside from the slight scuffles that he had with Danzo's boy toys, he had been keeping himself busy with travelling and fighting missing nins for bounty.

He didn't tell her about Danzo though, seeing that it would only get him deeper into parts that he doesn't want to talk about. He told her about some famous tales about his homeland. About the famous Yellow-Flash, who was capable of killing hundreds of people in a blink of an eye. She was soon engrossed in the story, almost like a child. After the epics of the Yellow Flash, he told her of the civil war in Kirigakure. It saddens the woman knowing that war happened amongst people who are one of a kind, and that people with 'special abilities' – as what he dubbed it – were executed simply out of fear. He goes on and on, telling stories of people that he had encounter. People that he had met before in his life.

Unknown to him, he has reached the level of privacy in this one sided conversation of his. He began telling her more about him, what he likes, what he dislikes and what he enjoys. Soon, he finds himself speaking about his hobbies, what he enjoys doing. The conversation has become personal, and that is unknown to him. He knows it, consciously. But his body, mouth continues to talk even if his mind is in a total confused state.

"As a kid with nowhere to go, I usually live in old apartment slums… they're like tall buildings which houses people… and as for food, well, the vendors won't mind if they find a missing apple of two." The small chuckled that came out of the boy's mouth was bittersweet, as if he's reminiscing of his past.

Kaguya listened intently. Being the good listener she is, she also sensitive when people have started talking about matters that are different. She asked him, "Then… if you're living alone at such a young age, why don't you go to an orphanage? I'm sure that they would take your presence kindly… right?"

At that, he flinched. His features becoming quiet, like the sudden breeze coming to a stop. He sighed, followed by an empty and hollow chuckled that has seemed to come out from the bottom of his heart.

"You know, perhaps I should tell you another story." He began, almost amused.

"Once, there was a young kid. He's loud, has attitude problems and is no doubt the main source of trouble for his community." Kaguya is not dumb to not know that he is beginning to tell her about his life. Something that she has been listening to for the past few hours, yet only hearing it now.

"This kid… you see, he isn't well liked by the people around him. He is also not the sharpest axe in the rack. But this kid… this kid was filled with big dreams. He dreams as far as the sky, maybe he'll take himself to the moon and back if he dreamt too far." The blonde haired boy laughed at his own joke. "Thing is, this kid wants to know why. Why, do the people around him ignore him? Why do the people, who showed affection and care for the other homeless kids, showed him pity and anger."

Silence is like water into a brush, soaking, filling the atmosphere full of it. "So, he had finally set on his dreams. His dreams, which happen to be near impossible to make true, came true. He got people to recognize him. All he ever wanted was a place to stay, so he gets it. All he wanted was people to recognize him, he gets it…" Naruto looked away, into the distant wooden ceiling of the room. "But all of those… all of those are swept away like dust. He then soon realized that he hadn't found the answer to his question."

"He still wondered… 'why do people hate me?' but he got all the recognition that he wanted, right? He should be happy right?" at this point, it wasn't clear as to who is the blonde speaking to. Himself or Kaguya. "Because let me tell you, to that kid, those friendly greeting, those praises, those people who he got to know, doesn't matter to him anymore." His tone is like a knife, ending what seems to be whatever chances there are for this story to become a happy one.

"He was stripped away, from both his shame and pride. He clouds himself with false determination, yet he refuses to believe so. He was baptized under the burden of sacrifice. He was given the royal gift of betrayal." His tone has become louder. He is now screaming. But in a contained rage. "He has lost everything."

…

"It was like the darkest hour of his life, if it couldn't get any darker. The only thing that remains in him is one: his question of why do people treat him the way he was. Why now? Why do they treat him as if he is the savior of his kind?" another silence. But it was ended much quicker than the previous one.

"Unknown to him, the answer is here." Naruto clutched his chest, right where his heart is at. "The answer has always been inside of him this whole entire time… he is just naïve, blind, ignorant enough to not see it. But it was too late for the boy. He'd lost everything but one, but how can he, who only has the source of his despair, return?" it was a question. But it was not for Kaguya. It was for Naruto himself.

The boy smiled, showing Kaguya his fox like smirk. "He did one thing. He became a demon."

Nor Kaguya or Naruto spoke after the whole story. For Naruto, it feels as if he had just spilled both his words and heart into the floor. He couldn't think of anything else to talk about, much less continue on another topic.

For Kaguya, she is absorbed into the blonde's words. This story that he had told her, it's like a reflection upon a mirror. But it's not her reflection she's seeing. But the boy's. As a person who has lived so long to know the burden of others, Kaguya knows best than to show pity to the boy. She knows it too well. When people like him are shown pity, it would only anger them. They are stubborn in a way, but not in a bad one.

Soon after deciding that she has enough of the uncomfortable silence that lingers in the air, she coughed. "That was a rather interesting tale you've told me Naruto-dono." She started, her ever so charming eyes glazed upon his. "I have enjoyed the time that you have given me to tell your story with, I truly have." She bowed her head down in thanks.

Naruto, who still in a daze after the whole story telling, could only nod. "Ah, yeah…"

Kaguya smiled underneath the veil of her sleeve. She stood from her seat, walking over to the other side where the boy is sitting at. She suddenly dropped beside him, enveloping him in a hug. This action is way too sudden for the blonde. He did not expect this to happen nor did he thought for this to come to be. But for whatever reason there is, he couldn't bring himself away from the woman's embrace. For once, in his life of hardships and pain, he felt the feeling of security. He felt… warm and comfortable. His arms could not move. His brain ceased thinking the moment he felt contact from the woman.

But his eyes… they dropped three little droplet of tears. His chest tightened. He felt… confused, both mentally and physically. Why is he crying now of all times? He promised himself not too cry again. He promised not to show emotions like sadness and grief. So why… why now?

Why cry now, Naruto?

While the boy is busy with his own raging emotions, Kaguya slowly reminisced her way into the past.

The vision of a small child laughing.

The vision of being hurt.

The vision of being called mother.

She remembered those way well, all too well. She has decided her life the moment she chose to drink from the elixir. She has fully accepted the consequences of her actions, and is still receiving them now. But for all that matters, if should she be able to change the past, she would do it. People might call her selfish. People might call her liar.

But what is being selfish and to lie, if not but a sin?

She is Kaguya Houraisan, the Eternal Sinner. And she knows that she would never be able to get the redemption she longed.

After a lengthy moment, she lets go of the embrace. She still maintains a close distance towards him. With a smile that is probably alien to her own, she placed her hand on top of the boy's head, ruffling his golden crown.

"Ohime-sama, there is a guest for the patie-"

All eyes, both blue and black, turned towards the direction of the sliding door. Naruto distanced his way away from Kaguya, finally standing up. His eyes are still glued to the newcomer's form, seeing that this is the first time he'd seen her… or someone like her. For once, he wasn't surprised by the foreign manner of clothing. But what interest him are her hair, and… ears. She has rabbit ears on top of her head, and they seem to be detachable. Her face made a look of surprise, something that both Naruto and Kaguya could confirm. She noticed that both people are staring her way, to which she blushed in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, I shall wait outside." With a final apology, she slides the door close.

Naruto blinked, still taking in what happened a few seconds ago. His eyes then returned to their usual bored state. He turn his way towards the door, knowing that someone has visited him. "So yeah, I'll be going now if you don't mind." He casually dismissed himself before the woman. He grabbed the handle of the door, pausing before opening the door fully. "…and thanks."

Kaguya watched as the boy leaves the room, sliding the door close. Her eyes are still glued to where the boy was standing before while feeling mixed emotions in her heart altogether. Her small supple lips twisted to a small, if not tiny smile. Life is interesting no matter how she sees it. But she knows that there is an end to it… maybe there is too for this life of hers.

The black haired Princess stood slowly from her place and walked in a slight daze outside to the veranda. Her eyes are soon glued into the infinite and boundless blue sky. She watched the clouds moving ever so slowly. The gentle wind blew pass her, gracing her in winter's cold morning. The winter sky is not something she fancies. There are no stars to gaze at and it's always cold. But no matter which sky it is, be it summer or even autumn, she is sharing it with thousands of other sinners out there in the whole wide world.

* * *

"Kosuzu-chan, I'll be borrowing this book again today please!"

In Gensokyo there is a library.

"Ah yes, please. Let me stamp it first."

This place is not as famous as the other main library which the place holds. In fact, there are about some who could easily replace this place. The infamous Voile library of the Scarlet Devil Mansion is excluded for obvious reasons.

"Thank you Kosuzu-chan, Shirou would be happy to read this book."

But what made those other library different is because this one is often visited by the famous two incident solvers of Gensokyo. Even if those two young and bullet shooting girls visited this place frequently, it is still but a normal library. Nothing but books in it. But the same cannot be said about the books themselves.

"Yes, I'm sure he will. Have a good day Saori-san."

"A good day to you too Kosuzu-chan."

Kosuzu Mootori, a human girl. As simple as that. The term normal doesn't really apply in Gensokyo, considering its rule of throwing common sense outside the window. But for her, she is normal. Of course, Gensokyo standard. She is the daughter of Suzunoan, and just like her father, she is also a book renter. Perhaps that is also why this place is different than most library. It's not exactly a library, but a place where people are allowed to rent books for them to read.

She enjoys her job well, because of the scholar she is. She like books, reading them has always been a thing she enjoyed ever since she was young. Perhaps, if someone were to question her upmost interest in literature, it is because of her ability. The ability to decipher a book just by touching a book is a pretty passive ability. She does not know how it fully works, but it draws her into books more than she thought it would.

"Yosh… there we go, all done." Kosuzu allowed a smile on her face. She had just finished arranging the new shipment of books, a rather tiring task if she could say. But it all comes down to one thing: reading. When she said arranging, it is not putting them in shelves. No. She stacked them on her table, and prepares them for a reading. This is also a job for her. To understand the content of a book is a must. And just like this, she can spend her morning quietly.

"Excuse me."

The pinkish red haired book renter turned her head towards the direction of her door. A customer. The book renter smiled, greeting the young customer. "Yes, how may I help you?"

The person in question is a young girl, her height a little bit shorter than Kosuzu's. She is dressed well and neatly. Her face is round and soft, clearly showing her age. She is dressed in a lavender colored kimono with maple patterns on them. Her hair, long, reaching down to her back is kept in a neat and tidy fashion. Her hair is similar to the color of the night sky, so black and shiny.

"I'm looking for a book about… about…" the girl stumbles. She really hadn't thought much about what she is going to read.

Kosuzu smiled, approaching the girl. "Then sit down. I will show you some of the most interesting reads there are here."

"O-Okay…"

So Kosuzu browsed her entire glossary, finding a particular book or two. Her eyes finally found what she was looking for. She stood from her seat to retrieve the book for her customer. Shortly later, she returned with only one book in hand. She hand the item of literature to the girl, her face smiling once again. "Here you go. This book has just recently been added to our archives. It's a book from the outside world."

The girl who received the book was interested already due to the fact that this book comes from outside Gensokyo. Kosuzu ruffled the girl's hair. "You can return it whenever you feel like it, but don't lose it okay?"

"Okay!" the girl thanked the book renter before shuffling her way outside the door. If Kosuzu or the girl were to look closer, that book has another title.

Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi.

* * *

"Pfft! You got your ass burned down didn't ya?"

"Shut up. It was that stupid fairy's fault…"

"Wait, fairy?"

Naruto huffed in annoyance. "Yup, fairy. Little obnoxious girls with wings. And an idiot too… if it weren't for her distracting me, I won't be where I am right now..." the blonde haired ninja muttered the last part bitterly. He flicked his bangs backward, getting a good look on his two 'guests'. "So, what are you two doing here? You're here just to laugh at me silly?" he asked with an annoyed tone. Seriously, he had a rough night. His body is still hurting, a certain bastard fox was too stingy to lend a helping hand.

He heard a mental snort coming from his head.

Marisa grinned, throwing her head back and resting on the soft, smooth surface of the floor. "Nah, we decided to see you to see how you're doing." She then picks herself up, giving the boy a suspicious look. "I'm surprised you met Alice already, what happened with the both of you?" she looked back between her fellow blondes.

The puppeteer in question coughed while hiding a teasing smile underneath her fist. Naruto glared at the woman, giving her a silent threat. "Nothing in particular." Alice said happily. A little bit too happy. "He stumbled upon me while I was out looking for firewood. He was _hungry_ too." Alice ignored the powerful glare that was sent her way by the shinobi.

Marisa made a disappointed look. "Is that so… tch… I think that you two fought or something…" she murmured under her breath, but managed to be heard by the other two blondes. Marisa looked out to the sky, her lips turning into a small frown. "Hm… I'm gonna be late for an errand." She stands and reaches for her broom, grabbing it and positioning herself on it.

"Where are you going?" curious, Naruto can't help but ask. He knew that Marisa strikes him as a person who likes to go here and there, but he never thought that she was going to leave so soon.

Stretching her arms, the witch then answers. "I'm going to go for some errands. You wanna come?" she asked the boy.

"Does this errand of yours involve beating the shit out of things?" he asked skeptically with narrowed eyes.

"Yes, it involves beating the shit out of things." Marisa confirmed with a knowing nod.

"Then deal!" he was about to stand and join the black and white witch, until…

"Not so fast." Everyone turned their attention to the new voice. Their eyes focused on a familiar form. Eirin is dressed in her monochrome glory, her version of monochrome at least. The moon doctor had a bored look on her face, looks like she's not the type to be doing all the talking. "You." She pointed to the only male in the room. "Are not allowed to leave yet."

'Here we go again…' Naruto then leveled her with a glare. "Oh yeah, and why is that?"

She pulled out her clipboard, tapping into it lightly, she began reading. "While your burns are indeed… healed, the same can't be said for the cuts you have all over your body."

Alice shifted at that statement.

"You got three inches cut and stab wounds all over you, how are you even able to walk anyway?" Eirin asked almost frustrated. She had seen people heal fast in her life. But none of them are human. So here is a situation given to her: There is a human and he heals fast, faster than some Youkais she knew. Now the question on her mind,

"What are you?"

The Uzumaki did not even budge from his place. But alas, he decided to answer. He raised his pointer finger. "To answer your first question: It's because I have my legs." He then pointed to his legs in a casual manner. He then raised his middle finger, making this the second time he'd raise his fingers. "And secondly," With the largest and foxiest smirk he could muster, he answers, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki. No more, no less."

He then joined Marisa on her broom, looking giddy. Even if he's still not eager to fly, it is actually better than to be holed up in a room with a nagging hag asking him how he's doing for every one hour. "Come on… I'm bored as heck here." He tapped Marisa's shoulder, motioning her to take off.

The witch merely grinned, gathering herself for a spectacular take off. And being spectacular it did. "Hold… on… tiiiiiiight!~" the two blondes take to the skies with incredible speed. With nothing to hold on, Naruto is forced to grip on the thing that is closest to him. Which happens to be Marisa's neck. From that point onwards, their little flight was a little bit… hectic.

Alice watched the whole scene transpired before her very eyes. For once, she thought there were two Marisas. Those two are similar. She could already see in their attitude, their actions… she just hopes that the boy doesn't go around pointing an octagonal box that shoots a giant laser beam of doom. No, she probably shouldn't have joked about that. She knows how irony works here in Gensokyo.

"Ahh… and to think that I get to experiment more on him, tch."

"Please stop that, it's creepy."

"Well," Eirin cast aside her clip board without the single ounce of care in the world. It's like everything that she has written on it doesn't matter anymore. "there's no use crying over spilt milk. I'll be continuing my studies and if you need to purchase some medicine, Udonge is right at front." The doctor lazily dismisses herself, sliding open the door before resuming to her laboratory.

Alice, left with nothing to do, decided to leave. "Hm… maybe not." But a second thought sparks up in her mind. She flew outside the veranda, following after the two blondes who had just left earlier. Judging by how fast Marisa could travel, she says that it'll take her about ten or fifteen minutes to catch up to them. Still, she isn't going to waste energy just so she could catch up to her fellow blondes. And it's not like she's curious or anything. She just has a lot of a free time on her, so there's nothing wrong with following after Marisa and Naruto.

* * *

"So! Where are we going exactly?" Naruto asked, having to raise his voice due to the wind around him. He is on flight with Marisa, yes, on her broom. He still thinks that this is his least favorite way of travelling, but he learned that he won't get anywhere in Gensokyo just by jumping around trees. "Are you sure we're going to beat the shit out of something?"

Marisa sweat drops. "E-Eh sure… well, we are going to visit a friend of mine." The witch said, explaining to him concisely.

The blonde shinobi raised an eyebrow. "We're going to beat the shit out of your friend? You sure he or she won't mind?"

The witch face palmed with one hand. "No you dummy, we are not going to beat the shit out of him." Marisa said while sighing. "He's a shopkeeper. He owns a little antique shop somewhere right outside of the human village, and there are bound to be some Youkais along the way that'll definitely try and stop us." Marisa explained. "I'll let you deal with them. But don't be too rough now, ya hear?"

The Uzumaki snorted. "Heh, says the one who spam the shit out of someone for a living… anyway, fine. Let's just see what kind of Youkai we might meet."

"You sure are confident aren't you?" Marisa asked.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders, not really caring. "Confidence's ain't no problem if you got the skill to back it up. And besides, I'm sure everyone here is up for a good fight." The blonde shinobi insisted uncaringly.

This particular attitude somehow eases Marisa up. She remembered her first time fighting Youkais alongside with Reimu, something that she has been doing for a very long time, and she has to admit that she was acting like the way Naruto is now. Would it be strange for her if she were to say that Naruto is somewhat similar to her? Well, she know nothing of him, maybe she'll have to see for herself later.

When Marisa reached a particular distance, she noticed the familiar growth pattern of trees. "Oh, we're here. Hold on tight, I'm gonna land." She felt the boy gripping her shoulders tighter. For someone who is looking to fight a Youkai he sure isn't comfortable with flying. Well, first experiences are always the scariest they say…

Shortly later, the two blondes landed on the ground with safety. Naruto jumped out of the broom and began stretching his arms and legs. His body is still sore, but nothing that will hinder him. But ever since he killed that fairy that night… something is beginning to feel strange. It's like he began to felt a little colder. Maybe it's because of the winter here, or maybe it's just him. "Well, where are they?"

Marisa clicked her tongue while shaking her head. A sly smile appears on her face. "You need to be patient. Most Youkais only come out at night, and since this is the day, you might only meet a few fairies or Rumia."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at that last particular wording. "Rumia? What the hell is that, a Youkai?"

"Yup." Marisa nodded. "She is a Youkai of darkness. Despite her cool sounding name, she's actually rather dumb. I mean, who gets blinded with their own darkness?" she asked, trying to go for a joke.

"Everyone…"

"Hm?"

"Sorry, nothing." The Uzumaki coughed to his fist. He looked around, using his sensory skills to detect anything within his range. The good thing about chakra is that it could also act as a tool to find targets. One of the easiest examples would be using it as a sonar. In order to do this, he'll have to send out waves of chakra along the ground, and if something were to be within the range of this pulse, it will be reflected back to him.

But since he is a special case… he could do something more than just using chakra. This is a skill that he has developed through sheer instincts only. He can't even remember how hard he has to work his ass off in order to get it this far. It is also a form of sensory technique but it is more subtle. While the sonar method technique is good, it is far from perfect. The thing is, when the pulse touches or touched a person, and if that person is sensitive to energy, he or she could trace the sonar back to the sender.

So, he decided to get his way around that by developing his own sensory technique.

To Marisa's curiosity, her fellow blonde suddenly kneels down on the ground. He clears the snow off the patch of ground that he was on. Naruto then placed his palm on the ground, he closed his eyes, focusing his ears and mind. This is a training that requires concentration and instinct. The fact that he must concentrate his chakra is not an easy thing, hence making it a technique worthy to be praised. Aside from concentrating, he must also trust his instincts. As his senses began to grew sharper, so does his resolves.

Just by doing this, he has covered about three miles of distance. He felt it all. The animals, the energy sources that are alien to him and some other energy that he has never felt before. This place is truly a magnificent place. To be able to hold this much energy… it's almost as if the entire forest is alive.

Then, he felt a slight pricking sensation. A grin stretched its way onto his face.

"Okay, found it."

"Found what?" was Marisa's intelligent reply.

Naruto grinned, standing once again. "A Youkai."

* * *

"They are on the move sir."

Three figures. All of them clad in the same clothes, the only differences are the cloaks that they wore. The one standing in the middle is wearing a white colored cloak while the two next to him are wearing black colored ones. All three of them radiates an aura of fear and terror at the same time. But as good as they are with making themselves known, they hide their presence perfectly.

The one in the middle received his subordinate's information. He could already feel the familiar chakra in the air, the chakra of their target. The forest is dense and thick. It has been days after they have done full total coverage of a good distance of the forest. Their target is near, he could sense it.

"Anju, Raku, search and capture the target on sight. Stick to the plan and don't let him escape."

"Sir, target is seen with an escort. Your orders?"

"Leave no loose ends."

"Yes sir."

* * *

Naruto felt a cold chill running down his spine. He really needs to get a thicker clothing… he and Marisa are currently on their way towards wherever it is that he felt the energy from. It's not far from here, only a few more meters. After walking for minutes, Marisa finally speaks up. "Ah… now I see why you said that you felt a Youkai…" the witch drawled out in realization. She pointed towards a building over the distance, something that Naruto soon comes to notice.

"That is the place I'm talking about. You know, where my friend works? Anyway, I forgot to tell you that he is a Youkai. Well, a half Youkai at least."

"So you're saying that I won't get to do what I want?"

"Sorry tiger, maybe next time." Marisa apologized.

"Tch." Naruto clicked his tongue in annoyance. And he was just in his good mood… "Meh, fine. But you owe me a good fight whenever you have a free time. Anyway, let's just see this friend of yours. The sooner you're done with your errand the sooner I can get my ride back to the human village."

"Yeah, sure, sure…"

The two soon ends up in front of the building's door. Naruto looked up and down, examining this… shabby place. For once, it's in the same state as some of the buildings back in Konoha. The ones that aren't taken care of, yet somehow managed to be used and occupied. He's not going to get a guy down by letting him know that his house sucks, so he'll keep his opinions to himself. The place isn't so big, probably as good as a decent house or maybe more due to the length of the building. There is also a sign 'Kourindou' if he got it right.

The blonde haired female of the two walked straight to the door, opening it as if it's something she does every day. Sadly, Naruto doesn't know that. Seeing that his guide has made entrance to the place, he saw no other reason other than to follow her. Besides, there's nothing out here anyway. The shinobi took his time to analyze and sense his surrounding, provided if he was wrong. He stood still for a couple seconds before grumbling at the lack of presence nearby.

He entered the place and was, at least to say, surprised at what he's seeing. He lived in a messy place. That place was so messy that even he can't tell which one is the floor and which one is not. But this… this is like a familiar scene to him. The only differences being the items that are displayed, and he used the term 'displayed' loosely. There are things scattered everywhere and he doesn't need a good eye to tell that all of them are junk. Well, most of them at least. There are lamps, wires, candles, books, useless statues, something that he had never seen before in his life and more things that he had never seen before in his life.

Call him ignorant, but being chased all across the nation by hunter ninjas sent by a mad old power hungry grandpa does not give him the leisure to know what items or inventions are up to date.

Naruto made his way across the sea of seemingly endless junk; they are floating like corpses after a fight in Water country. The ventilation here is bad. Real bad. He got no idea how this person managed to live here for as long as he thought without suffering from lung cancer or something. He finally made his way out of the sea of items sprawled all over the floor, making his way to Marisa, he noticed of a presence approaching them.

From behind the counter that they are both facing, a rather tall, but skinny man, dressed in a blue and black kimono with a brown leather bag dabbled over it. He has a short, but spiky yet also a well maintained hair. He is wearing a pair of clear glasses, causing Naruto to get the idea if he is older than he looks. Aside from the foreign hair color and style of clothing, this person looks normal. Probably not, if he is a Youkai.

The man's eyes flickered from the witch to him, eyeing him in a different manner than he did to Marisa. If Naruto were to guess it could be… expectation? He is expecting something from him?

"Marisa and customer, how can I help?" he asked. His voice sounded bored, almost as if he's been doing this shopkeeping job over the past century or something. Again, it is a pity that someone here does not know anything yet… the silver haired bespectacled man gave the witch a stare. If one could call it that. "And I am sure that you are here to _purchase_ something, yes?"

Naruto was about to speak that he was here only because he had to wait until Marisa finished with her errands. But the witch has other plans. She waved her hands, almost nervously, in front of the older man. Her face showing off a rather obvious look. "Of course we will, right?" she turned to her right, elbowing her fellow blonde while hinting at him with a blink of her eye.

Now Naruto could do two things. One, he could be a jerk and say no and let whatever it is that Marisa was doing fail. Or two, he could play along with Marisa's little game and see how this will go. Of course… there is always for option three… the male blonde pulled out his pouch, opening its content. He pulled out what seems to be ink sacs, all of them empty.

"Actually, I was wondering if you have some ink to sell? You see, I'm doing something for a project of mine, and I need these inks really much." He expressed his needs by stretching the words longer. "So it would be real great if you have some ink with you."

The shopkeeper nodded, satisfied that he has managed to get his first customer of the day. "Of course, I do have some. Please wait a moment." The silver haired shopkeeper excused himself to grab the item that was requested of him.

The two blondes are left alone and Marisa did not waste any time in questioning the shinobi. "What are you doing? I was just-" she was silenced by a suppressed shush.

"Listen here dummy, what you don't know is that I am in serious need of inks. You see, I need them for… practices. Yeah, practices." Naruto revealed. Of course, that is not his real reason. He has his reasons and he has no intention of letting someone else know about it. Anyway, it's not like she'll be in the dark about it any time soon. Sooner or later, he will eventually have people finding out what he is.

"Practice?" this girl just doesn't give up.

Naruto nodded, crossing his arms. "Yeah, practice. A practice that I have no intention of letting someone else having a clue or whatsoever." That annoyed the black white witch if not a little bit. Before Marisa could ask more, the shopkeeper returned with the item that Naruto needs. The man placed the bottle of inks on the counter, letting it for display.

"Here are some bottles that I managed to find." Naruto picked one of the ink bottles and began examining them. From looking at it alone, he could tell that these are not of the best quality. He tapped the ink bottle and whisking them for further examination. Just as he thought, these are low quality ink. But, he's not in a position to choose right now. So he'll just have to make do with these. Of course, this does not mean that it won't return and get him in the ass later on.

Fuinjutsu is art in many senses. It takes skill, time, patience, practice and the right materials to produce a fine seal. These inks are not really at the same caliber as the ones he worked with but they'll do, provided if he needs to use them in a dire situation. The blonde boy placed the ink bottle on the counter top, nodding. "Fine, I'll take three of these. How much?"

"Three hundred mon."

"Here."

After paying, Naruto placed his newly purchased items inside his pouch, keeping them safe from straying hands. "Okay, I'm done here woman. Come, you owe me a ride back to the village." as soon as the blonde haired boy said those words, he walked towards the door, planning to leave.

"Wait a minute, I'm not done with my errand yet! Er… eh… I'll just take these, thanks Kourin!" Marisa took a random book from somewhere and began following after her escort. The door swings open, signaling the departure of the two blondes.

Behind his lonely and old counter, Rinnosuke Morichika sighed. His life is always accompanied by little annoyances every morning. If not Marisa, it's Reimu. Well… at least he got a customer. A paying customer.

But still… he's a little annoyed on not getting himself introduced to the stranger.

"Hey Naruto! Wait up man sheesh…" finally catching up to the orange clad shinobi, Marisa breathed in and out as she relinquished whatever energy was lost on trying to keep up with her fellow blonde's pace. She finally caught up with the boy, she kept her pace on walking beside him, noticing his quiet demeanor, she asked. "What's wrong?"

The blonde did not answer her. Instead, he pulled her by neck, pulling her closer to him. This sudden action surprised the witch greatly, seeing that she was not expecting such a thing to happen. She tried struggling, with 'try' being the keyword at play. The arm that was curled around her neck is just too strong for her to shake off.

With a flushed face, she squeaked out. "H-Hey! What're yo-" she was silenced when she noticed the serious look on Naruto's face. Every trace of humor and boredom gone. Replaced by an expression that she would usually see on a master to their apprentice.

"There are three guys. Strong. Four o'clock. Fly away. Act casual." From his tone alone, Marisa could tell that the shinobi is not kidding. His words managed to convince her that the threat level is abnormally high. His glare made all hopes of rebuttal died in her throat. Slowly, he eased her grip on her neck.

"W-Well, I better be going now. I have some errand t-to take care off. Bye!" Marisa summoned her broom as she tries to act casual just like as Naruto had ordered her. She soon took off to the skies, leaving Naruto alone to deal with his followers.

After seeing that the witch is outside of range, Naruto wasted no time in making a series of handseals. In reply to his sudden action, metallic sharp star shaped objects, which are no doubt shurikens, are thrown at him with skilled hands from a hidden location. Naruto was forced to cancel his technique, being forced to dodged the incoming preemptive attacks. The chain of attack resumes, a figure dressed in black swept from a nearby bush towards the blonde. Naruto ducked his form, barely dodging a swipe from a sword that will surely decapitate him.

Naruto's eyes widen upon seeing his attacker's visage. He pulled back, retreating a few meters from his assailant. "No…" he whispered as if the individual is the last person he wants to see. "It can't be…" it's impossible… how did they get in here? He was cut short off his thoughts when he felt another presence behind him. 'There are more of the-!' he did not managed to dodge the strike that was aimed at him. A solid kick connects with his abdomen. He nearly spit out blood but managed to control his body from doing so.

The blonde stepped back, taking out his kunai and sliced recklessly in front of him. As expected, his strike was easily dodged, and countered. The masked individual in front of him unveils a ninjato from his back, using it immediately to execute a well-executed swing. The blonde target barely dodged the blade, he could feel a few strands of his hair getting cut by the sword. Using whatever momentum he had in him, Naruto did a backflip, he retreated back to a safe distance.

Of course, he has another attacker to worry about. The blonde ninja began chucking shurikens at the other man, but only for him to dodge or deflect them with ease. Seeing that he won't be going anywhere like this, Naruto decided that it was enough fooling around. He gathered his chakra, focusing them on his arms. **"Uzumaki: Kusari!" **his chains appeared in all their intimidating glory. Wasting no time, the by with chains coming out of his person willed for his chains to strike for both men. He missed, seeing that the two were able to dodge his chains skillfully. But he's not stopping here. His chains continue to roam, swinging hazardously, with the intention to kill both men.

Seeing the chains caused both masked men to retreat, finding them a serious threat. Naruto took this moment to form a series of hand seals, he did so with skill, pulling out a technique. **"Doton: Doryudan!"** from the earth behind him, mud and dirt began shifting and shaping itself into the form of a dragon's head. The earth made dragon opened its deadly and sharp maw before launching mud balls at the two men with incredible speed.

One of the masked men jumped forward, pressing both of his palms to the ground. **"Doton: Doryuheki!"** the name of the jutsu is self-explanatory. A solid wall made from dirt and whatever minerals are there present in the ground rises up to form a giant and tall wall, protecting the man and his partner. The wall crumbled instantly, seeing that Naruto's dragon bullets are too strong for it to handle. The two ROOT ninja charges forward, planning to overcome the teenager through hand to hand combat.

But Naruto did not give them the luxury to do so, he swept his chains sideways, swinging them in a wide arc, hitting both of the ROOT ANBU. The impact of the chains alone caused both men to crash to nearby foliage, and it absorbs the chakra of those who touched them. Naruto could feel his chakra increasing, due to his chains absorbing the, from his two attackers. With his chains protruding from his back and waving intimidatingly, he walked towards the two downed ROOT.

"Okay… now, tell me what the fuck are you dicks doing here?" he got no answer from them. Naruto willed for his chains, they wrapped around the two ROOT operatives, binding them in a tight hold. Both of them grunted and winced in pain, they can feel their chakra getting absorbed out of their pools by the boy's chains. Naruto was getting annoyed for not getting any response at all. But he knew that no matter method he uses, it's useless due to the training that these two went through.

ROOT disciplined – trained – their members in endurance and information keeping. In other words, they torture the mind out of their operatives with the intention to see if they are quick to spill the beans or not. Those who pass made it out barely alive. Those who don't, let's just say that they are no longer operational both in ROOT and in life. But the thought of getting information is still top priority for Naruto. He made the chains tighter, burying them deeper into the ROOT operatives' flesh. Of course, he began to channel a little bit of his lightning nature into his chains, making the treatment even more painful.

"Keh… we… won't… tell you shit…" one of them managed to gritted out through the pain. Naruto responded by kicking the man in the chin, causing his head to whip backwards. He made sure not to apply enough strength into the kick so much that it will snap the man's head backwards. Just enough to make him get the idea that he is not kidding around. The boy's glare grew sharper. Looks like he won't get anywhere like this. Looking around, his eyes landed on a rather large tree branch. A deadly grin crept itself up to his face, earning visible reaction from the two ROOT ANBU.

"If you won't tell me… then I'll make you, regardless of how well prepared you are for this." He yanked the chains with one arm, despite being smaller in height than the two men, he managed to launch them onto the tree branch that he was looking at earlier. The chain got stuck on the branch, causing the two men to be hanged side by side in a rather humiliating position. If one thing that is still stuck in him, it has got to be his mischievous habit of doing pranks. As well as making traps. He pulled out his kunai, channeling it with his abnormal and surreal red chakra.

"I'm going to have a lot of fun scaring the wits out of you two…"

"Not so fast Uzumaki." A sudden commanding voice caused the blonde boy to turn his body and face the direction wherever the voice came from. The boy's sharp blue eyes grew colder and narrower, his anger and rage boiling increasingly as his eyes laid on the figure before him. This man is another of Danzo's boy toy… and it seems that he is one of the most trusted ones judging from the cloak he's wearing.

"C-Captain!" one of the two captured masked villain gasped out in relief.

"Anju, Raku." The captain started, his voice chilling to his subordinates' ears. "Danzo-sama will be displeased upon hearing you performance… regardless, I cannot allow more flaws in the mission." He brandished a standard ROOT ninjato from within his person, channeling his chakra into it, increasing both ajesthe sharpness and durability of the blade. "I will capture the rogue myself." He charged, weapon in tow. Naruto stuck his chains at a nearby tree, keeping the two restrained ROOT operatives chained. Naruto raised his own chakra infused kunai, parrying and clashing with the captain's strikes.

As expected of a ROOT commanding captain. His movements are near to flawless. Every strikes and attacks he executes are deadly and will kill Naruto for sure if the blonde ninja is not careful. But Naruto's instincts and reflexes never fails him. He is on par with the ROOT captain when it comes to speed, in strength, he outdo him. But if it were to come to skills… the ROOT captain is on the top. The ROOT captain flashed a series hand seals, he retreated back earlier to draw some distance between him and Naruto.

"**Katon: Hono no Yuri!"** a majestic lily shaped inferno was launched at the blonde. Clicking his tongue, Naruto too utilized a series of his own seals.

"**Suiton: Suiryudan no jutsu!"** a dragon shaped bullet was made from the water particles in the air, the Uzumaki's control over chakra is not to be trifled with.

Both techniques clashed, causing a large and thick steam to emit, disadvantaging both parties. The steam takes a long time to disperse due to the chakra that was put behind both techniques, it's like the infamous Kirigakure no Jutsu. Naruto has no Bykugan, but he is sensitive with his ears. This ROOT captain is good. To be able to hide his presence well and even smell… he's not making a single sound either. Naruto looked around, having enough of the steam, he dispersed it.

"**Futon: Kamikaze!"** Releasing the technique, small tornados started to form from a small gust of wind. The tornados spun wildly, blowing whatever steam or dust that that obscures Naruto's vision. The blonde hoped for the bastard to be caught up in all that, but even he knows that it's too easy. The wind dispersed and there's still yet any sign of the ROOT captain. Naruto looked around, his senses gone haywire.

"There you are!" chains began soaring for where he sensed a presence. His chains pierced through a tree, before going deeper into the foliage. Soon, he heard explosions. Wait. Explosions? To his surprise and shock, a familiar beautiful and annoyed face came out from the sidelines. "D-Doll face?! What the heck are you doing here?!" he demanded, seeing the woman.

Alice brushed off the dust and gunpowder from her shoulders, her trusty and beloved Shanghai doll is floating next to her with a lance on her hand. The doll maker gave her fellow blonde a glare. "You nearly killed me! What were you thinking?!" she yelled, annoyed that if she weren't careful enough, she could've been dead. She looked around, noticing the condition of the forest. "What's going on…?"

Naruto walked up to her and forcibly grab a hold of her hand. He glared right into her eyes, his face mixed with seriousness and anger. "Listen, I need you to get away from here asap. I'm in a middle of a fight and I don't want you and your pretty little butt getting mixed up with my business, you dig? Good."

Alice pulled her hand away from the boy's grasp, her face flushed about the comment he made about her certain part. "N-Not a chance! You're injured and hurt," she pointed out to the cuts and bruises he got from dealing with his attackers earlier. "Let me help. You just got released from the clinic, you're in no condition to fight." Her dolls began to float close to her, ready to take any orders given to them.

Naruto growled in annoyance. "Listen here bitch, I wasn't asking. I need you to get the fuck away right now!"

"No." Alice remained firm.

Naruto gave up, waving his hands in the air in exasperation. "Fine, but you get yourself or me killed… then you'll regret it." Naruto walked away towards where he got his two captives. Alice watched the boy bringing down two capture masked men, both of them dressed in uniform. Naruto mentioned about being chased by a group of people… are they these people he was talking about?

"Come out you asshole!" Naruto shouted, obviously to the ROOT captain that he was fighting earlier. "If you don't come out I'll kill these boys of yours." He threatened the ROOT captain. Of course, he knows that it's not going to be this easy. He gave Alice a silent signal. She got what he meant. She prepared her dolls close, all of them armed and rigged for combat.

The response to his threat is a well-aimed kunai thrown at the puppeteer. Alice felt a little bit insulted. Something like this is not even worth the hassle for her. "HIT THE DECK YOU DUMBASS!" Naruto's warning reached her ears, but she did not managed to react on time. She did dodge the incoming kunai, but it exploded as soon as it is close to her. Naruto covered his face, shielding his eyes from the small explosion. Alice was seen blasted off to a nearby tree, distracting the blonde shinobi.

Naruto was not expecting a strike aimed at his chest, he took the slash straight on. The chakra infused sword was so sharp that it cuts a good layer of his muscle, Naruto wanted to scream, but another attack was executed by the ROOT captain, which is a kick to the chest. The kick was enforced with chakra, making it stronger and even more painful. The blonde shinobi crashed back first to a tree.

"Guh… shit…" the blonde cursed as he tries to stand up on his feet. He did not manage to stand, much less walk. His chains are gone, they've dismissed themselves. He felt a very strong grip on his neck, his body is lifted into the air and he was forced to look straight into a pair of black holes that allows vision for the ROOT captain, on his mask. "Let me… go you fucker…!" he choked out the words painfully. Thankfully, the chains that are restraining the other two ROOT operatives did not disappear, but it won't be too long before that to happen.

"Target captured. Mission success." Naruto was oblivious. Does this bastard think that he could get out from this place easily? Hah!

"You… can't get out from this place…" that came out as laugh from the Uzumaki. The blonde grinned, despite the position he's in. "You think you can easily come and go eh? Well guess what? You fucking can't!" he was punched in the face, hard. But Naruto did not stop smiling and laughing. After all, this was all just too funny for him.

"Nonsense. I have the solution to that… ROOT operative number five-oh-six." Naruto's blood grew cold. "Every name that are listed in the ROOT database are pretty much accurate. Should I dispose of you right now, your name will be gone from the list. That is how we will return. Danzo-sama will re-summon us using a reverse summoning jutsu, of course, the only way of erasing your name is to kill you. But there are alternatives for that." He punched Naruto in the face, before forcibly inserting his fingers inside his mouth. He pulled out his tongue, showing a black tattoo printed on the sensory organ. "Danzo-sama won't mind having a quiet member in the ranks…" his hands reached for a kunai, bringing it close to the tongue.

Naruto struggled, but to no avail. Is this it? Will he get captured? Will he really return to his old life?

"I won't let you!" dolls of all size and design began soaring for the masked individual. All of them carrying weapons like lances, axes, swords and even spears. The ROOT captain was forced to withdraw, dropping the blonde on the ground roughly. The blonde get himself to a safe distance, away from the entire madness that was about to happen. The ROOT captain dodged and avoid every incoming puppets. He slashed and even fought through some of them, using his sword skillfully.

Alice was impressed that someone managed to damage her dolls without the slightest bit of difficulty. But what he don't know, she is not limited to only puppetry. She summoned two more dolls to her sides, both are dressed in a maid uniform with frills on them. Their mouths open, and something bright began glowing from them…

Then what comes next is literally over kill.

Lasers, exploding dolls, sharp weapons… you name it. Alice is going all out and she's not afraid to show it. The other blonde nearby was watching the scene with his jaws on the floor, his eyes wide and morbid fascination. Scary… girls here are scary. Not even Tsunade of the Sannin is this brutal when it comes to dealing with her opponent. So the one sided slaughter continues for the next ten minutes, and eventually, it ended.

"Phew…" Alice wiped a sweat threatening to drip down her forehead. She looked at the scene in front of her and she was pleased. She turned her attention to the boy who was watching the entire scene with his eyes. She floats down to the ground, before walking towards the boy. She noticed the large and deep gash on his chest, she can't help but wince. "You need to get that treated." She made a move to offer her hand to him. But Naruto stood up on his own, with pain.

"It's fine. It'll heal later…" the teenager waved it off. Despite knowing that it'll heal, it is entirely up to a certain being inside of him.

Alice pursed her lips, her eyes glaring at the boy. "No way! You need that treated right away, come, open your jacket." She began trying to force him to get his jacket open.

"What, no! Just leave me alone!" But Alice is not going to let this go easily. Whether it'll heal quick or not, that wound still needs to be treated. Something like that could cause an infection, and it will only be worse if left alone. She grabbed him by the shoulders, holding him firmly, not letting him move. She then began unzipping his bloodied jacket, due to it being soaked in blood. She slowly took his jacket off, and her eyes wander lower to his abdomen area. Her face grew a healthy pink color upon seeing the well-built complexion that the boy has.

She shook the unnecessary thoughts away before getting right down to the point. She also made him take his shirt off, leaving him half naked with his large gash exposed. Alice analyzed the wound, a rather sour expression on her face. "You will need to see Eirin…"

"What? No! She'll do things to me!" the boy protested, but still capable on making an acceptable reason.

Alice hummed. "You got a point there…" still not giving up though. "But you to still need to see Eirin. Come, I'll take you to her." she dragged the boy from the place, much to his complain.

"Wait! At least let me put some clothes on, it's winter dammit!" the two disappears from the scene.

…

"Oh yeah almost forgot." Alice returned, still holding onto Naruto's hand like what a mother would do to her child. She focused on the two chained ROOT ANBUs on the trees. She pulled out a spell card with her free hand.

"**Sacrifice: Suicide Pact!"**

Naruto took it all back. Women here are not scary. They're downright terrifying.

* * *

**A/N: Well this is a long chapter… over 10K words, excluding A/N… this was a fun chapter to write. I personally think that I kind of introduced the weaker side of Naruto far too early. But he is still a child in the inside after all, and no matter how hard he tries to hide it, his façade will eventually break. I was planning for him to reveal that side of his to Alice… but I settled with Kaguya instead. **

**I like that little scene with Kosuzu too. Don't worry, you'll see much from her in later chapters. That little girl who entered the shop is only an extra so don't expect her to appear later again. I already have an OC planned for this and I introduced her in the second chapter. She will be revealed further in later chapters.**

**And now comes the dreaded part of this A/N… simply said, it's:**

**Pairings.**

**I'm taking up suggestions. PM me or write your thoughts on the reviewers section. That's all, have a good day/night!**


	6. Rising shadows

Danzo is a man who never lets go easily. He makes the hardest decision, sacrifices the most but for the greatest cause. Being strict isn't a trait, it's a necessity. When he was still serving in the ranks, he believed that only discipline and order is what keeps a ninja at his best. And now, he still lives up to those understandings. Things like emotions, camaraderie, and teamwork are also essential for a ninja. But there are times when they are unnecessary. He believes that a ninja should be perfect, a ninja should be more than just an individual. He believes that a ninja should be… more than just a soldier. It should be an army.

That is why he established ROOT. An organization that represents one objective, one vision and one mission. ROOT's objective is to ensure the well-being and safety of Konohagakure. Its vision is to create a Konohagakure that is both feared and respected in all aspects and throughout the entire Nations. Its mission is to do anything necessary to make the foundation's goals and ambition comes true. Danzo did all he could. He did his best to make what his organization is today. He could only care less for status, or what the other authorities are spreading out about his foundation.

Those were never important. ROOT is a dagger, unrestrained and only lowered when told to, beneath the light's shadows. It is the darkest penumbra that exists at the world's darkest hour. What better place is there to be for a shadow other than the day? ROOT is always subtle. Their planning for their operation is always classified and not all members of its foundation could know about it. Even certain authorized officers are not safe from this rule. There are no delegations in ROOT. Everyone works the same job, and that is to follow instructions, do as you're told and not ask questions about it.

ROOT is your family. There is no any other family other than ROOT. Members who joined ROOT that came from a clan or a family must leave them. ROOT is their family now. There is no I in ROOT. Everyone is ROOT. Everyone represents ROOT. In ROOT, you have no identity. You are what you are named. There is no need for feelings. It will only hinder you. There are no failures in ROOT. There is only success. Should you fail, you will be labeled as a disgrace. You will no longer take part in ROOT. You are a failure.

Danzo's single narrowed eyes gazed upon the scenery before him, taking in what Konoha has to offer. Standing still, the old war hawk of Konoha is standing on the edge of the Hokage tower, his greying hair being one of the reminders of his age. The cold and quiet night is the perfect example of what a ninja should be; at least that's what he thought. To be silent, still, unwavering and loyal. Yet managed to look professional at the same time. That is a ninja.

But sadly, those things are no longer visible in this generation. It might sound senile: an old man trying to bring back the old ways… but it's necessary. And it's more than a way.

Danzo believed that his ideal is far better than those of his teammate, the so called Hokage. He too believed that his teammate has gotten weak, soft. He could do a far better job than him. He could be a better Hokage than Sarutobi Hiruzen. That is why, ROOT also exist. To become a dagger that is unknown even to the Hokage, to become a talon that strikes unknowingly.

Konoha will change. He promised that. But in order to do so, he will need to most ultimate weapon.

A Jinchuriki.

* * *

"Achoo!"

Rubbing the bottom of his nose, Naruto Uzumaki grimaced in annoyance. "Ugh… I really need that coat now…" he muttered lowly as he trudged along the cold yet crowded street of the Human village. He had a rather uneventful day. First thing first, he woke up in a hospital and later, he faced some problems that he hoped he won't ever see again. And third, he returned to the hospital because he got hurt while dealing with his problems.

"Shush it." The woman, who is walking in the same pace as him, told. "Don't whine, you said it yourself. It's just a scratch, right?" Alice Margatroid had find amusement in teasing her fellow blonde. Though she wouldn't admit that so blatantly. She giggled, before saying, "Winter will be over soon, and spring will come. Then let's see if you will still complain."

Spring is beautiful in Gensokyo. It really is. It's one of the most worth seeing and experiencing season out of all the other seasons out there. Sure, every season have their own charm, but for her, spring is the most worth experiencing. At her statement, the male blonde scoffed. "Yeah right… I'm not planning on staying here for long anyway, it's like what… my third day here… and I got things I'll need to settle back home."

"And by things you mean those gentlemen that we met earlier today?" Alice inquired.

"Yup and their lot." Naruto nodded. "There are more of them, a whole entire fucking army of'em."

"You seem to know much about these individuals…" Alice trailed off. It's not strange if he had any connections or relations to whoever this people are. But if they can enter Gensokyou through any means, it'll be troubling and the Hakurei miko will need to know about this. Alice is not dumb to not know that Naruto and Reimu have a little bit of black blood going on, she found out about it through Marisa, who was more than happy to supply her with the knowledge.

"Of course, I was their top and finest member."

Alice nearly tripped on her own two feet. Her sudden pause caused the ninja to stop too, wandering why she is like that. Looking weirdly at the woman, Naruto asked. "What?"

Alice pointed a shaky finger at him, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. "B-Bu-You I-…" she finally snapped. Her hands gripped the boy hard on his shoulder, her face transforming into something that can't be mentioned. "THEN WHY THE HECK ARE YOU RUNNING AWAY FROM THEM?!"

.

.

.

Literally, every single persons' eyes are on the two blondes. Alice noticed this and was conscious about it. She blushed, knowing that she had just burst. Still with her hands on the boy's shoulders, she lowered her head to hide her embarrassment. Naruto pitied the girl, so he did one of the many kind acts there are.

POOF

They're gone from the scene, and shortly later, they found themselves in a more secluded area of the village. Alice looked around, shocked that they had just teleported somewhere. Naruto raised his hand before the woman could do an even more unladylike act. "Calm your panties woman." She did not do what he told her to, but she did calm down. Naruto walked away, turning his back to Alice. He stood silent, before talking. "Look, about me and these guys… it's something personal. Way personal. It's true that they're after me, but it's best for you to not know what it is. Yet."

He faced her again, a serious look on his face. "All I can say is this: There will be more of them coming, and it won't be pretty."

"Then that's a huge problem!" Alice shouted. "You're bringing foreign threats into Gensokyo, should the miko know of this, you'll be punished." Alice stated, as if that's the most crucial part. She locked her gaze into Naruto's eyes. "Not only the miko, I will have also find this problematic."

"Then get me the gap woman!" the boy countered in a similar manner that Alice did a few minutes ago. "Do you think I want to be here? Huh?" Naruto shook his head in exasperation, not knowing how to handle the matter. He paused to think, thinking of a way to solve the matter at hand. "Okay, okay… look, I got this. What if we work together? Confidentially."

The doll maker does not like where this is going, but she can't help to ask either. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"If I can prevent any chaos that'll be caused by my guys, and you can get me the gap hag, then it'll be a win-win situation, no?" he concluded.

Alice was hesitant on answering. Naruto elaborates further, convincing her. "Look, Danzo, no doubt the mastermind behind all this, has a way of getting into Gensokyo, something that is impossible without this gap hag." He stated as a matter of fact. "And this gap hag of yours, she can send people back right? Then we'll get her to help us."

Alice's reaction to that was immediate. "Impossible."

"Oh yeah? Try me." Naruto challenged with a smirk.

The doll maker nodded, denying the possibility in Naruto's statement. She sat on a wooden bench that is available, crossing her arms. "It's impossible no matter how you see it. Yukari won't be available until spring, she hibernates. And it's impossible, I repeat, impossible to figure out where she lives. Secondly, I'm not so sure on how you could go against an entire army all by yourself. You will need people to help you."

Naruto did not miss a beat to disagree with Alice. "It's possible as long as we're serious about this. I'm not going to give up just because some lonely hag needs her beauty sleep, I will eventually know and meet her and who says that I'm alone?"

"What do you mean?" Alice asked, puzzled.

Naruto chuckled, amused. "Silly Alice, you don't know what a ninja can do. Look. Danzo's men may be loyal, but they are naïve to the boot. They had their head filled with empty promises, so empty that it's as much as lies. All I need to do is to act leader then boom, I have my own group of loyalists. I was there when they 'promised' us for a better world and place to live in. All I need in order for all this shit to blow over without anyone noticing is for you to cooperate with me and do as per instructed."

"You're cynical…"

"Cynically smart my dear." An uneasy feeling went down Alice's stomach. She was pinned between a rock and a hard place. With Naruto being the rock and this trouble of his being the hard place. She needs to make a careful decision here. If she were to tell Reimu, there will be only violence between these two. But if she were to be involved with Naruto, she'll drag herself into all kinds of trouble. This is as hard as choosing which strings would she use for the day…

Getting Yakumo Yukari to work together is not easy, especially knowing the woman's attitude. And she is not entirely convinced that Naruto could pull this off without difficulty. The outcome of both choices will surely disadvantage her in some ways, be it in trust or wellbeing. But the threat is too serious to be left alone, this can't be ignored. She had seen what those men could do. And even if they're just humans, no ordinary human could breathe out fire and create walls of dirt with such ease. And there's an entire army of them. Great.

"So what do you choose doll face? You do this with me, or you'll complicate matters further with your friends?" he's luring her into helping him. She knows it. But, it is to save and protect Gensokyo. As if to prove her point, Naruto speaks again. "Danzo could have hundreds of his best men to storm this village, I don't know how you'll take care of that, but trust me, it won't be easy. And you girls here are strong, don't get me wrong, but there is a reason why they are called ROOT."

"They grow and leech off minerals…" Alice muttered out in understanding.

"Bingo."

…

Forgive her, Reimu, Marisa and Gensokyo.

"… Fine, I'll stick with your plans." Alice said.

"Good." Naruto nodded. "I will start planning. We will use your home as base. You can start by silencing that witch."

Alice's reaction to that was immediate. "How dare you!"

"It's either that or more people getting 'silenced' by Danzo's boy toys!" Naruto growled out. "Look, I'll be honest here. I'll kill one to safe thousands. I'll kill thousands to save millions."

"There's no difference!" the puppeteer spat out heatedly. "You hypocrite, you said that you want to protect Gensokyo, I was wrong." She was about to turn and leave, but Naruto stopped her. He grabbed a hold of her hand, forcibly. "Let me go!"

"Listen."

"No, let me go!"

"**Listen!"**

Alice stopped moving, her body went numb. Her eyes wide, she was left to wonder what that inhumane feeling that she felt a moment ago was. Naruto panted, his chest heaving up and down. Soon later, he eventually calmed down. He finally spoke. "Alright. Do whatever you can to stop that witch from babbling her cock sucker to that shrine bitch or anyone else, I don't want word to get out. We clear?"

Alice nodded weakly.

"Good. Now go, I'll be going to gather more research. I'll return to your house when I'm done." Was the only thing he said before disappearing in a lump of smoke.

Alice was left alone in the quiet and secluded area of the village. She felt regret, anger and doubt inside of her. But her resolves remain strong. She will stop this incoming danger from harming Gensokyo, but she won't let her own way be cast aside. The puppeteer took off to the air.

She needs to talk to a dear friend.

* * *

There is no rest for a shinobi. Struggling his way through the thick and dense forestry of Gensokyo. They say the forest is one of the many homes there are for a shinobi. Naruto finds truth in that statement. The green leaves here are coated in snow and the air is still as chilling as he remembers it to be. Not to mention, he is also dressed in a set of clothing that no longer feels comfortable to him.

He is making the mountain, the largest mountain, his destination. It's called Youkai Mountain, a place that is no doubt dangerous. Regardless, he still needs to check the place out. He overheard some people talking about a shrine on top of it, and he thought that Reimu was the only shrine maiden around… looks like he's wrong.

The reason why he's making the mountain his first destination is because it could be a potential rally point for Danzo's men. Danzo's a good tactician, damned man had been doing it for most of his life, and he'll no doubt use the mountain as a base of some sort. The reason being because the mountain is positioned rather strategically to the Bamboo forest of the lost, The forest of magic and also the human village. He doesn't know what other places are there available in Gensokyo, but he's afraid that they'll have to wait.

After hours of trudging, he finally reached the start of the mountain path. The blonde Uzumaki gulped. He balled his fist, determination growing in him. "Oh well… might've just finished this as fast as I can." He begins his long trek up the mountain. The way up is hard, yet something tells him that the way down will be much harder. He is used to travelling long distances, he'd spent a long time escaping from Danzo's men after all. All the way from Kiri to Suna, from Suna to Iwa.

So going up a mountain won't be too hard, right?

Oh how wrong he was.

Two hours. That's how long he'd spent trying to climb the mountain. He thought that sticking to the mountain path might make things longer, so he decided to take a little detour. And by detour he means climbing steep cliffs, crossing deep ravines, and other challenges that he encountered. This whole thing is starting to tire him out. Even with his status as a stamina freak, he could only handle much. He's in the middle of climbing a cliff, using his hands, feet and chakra as support.

"Dirty women and their dirty flying skills…" he murmured under his breath, and unknowingly, he had just made everyone capable of flying at Gensokyo sneezed. He made his way up the steep cliff, the cold acting as an obstacle to him. Still, the climate does not affect his unwavering determination in the slightest. In fact, it adds more fuel to his flame.

"C'mon…" he jerked his elbow, making it bend, "Hup!" then he launched his body upwards, grabbing hold of the cliff's edge. He carried his body, afinally finding land. He gasped and panted in extreme exhaustion. His body cool down easily due to winter, but the cold and the sweat is not a good combination. It could get him into a serious case of hypothermia. But that's the least of his worries.

The blonde Uzumaki looked around, and noticed that there is a pathway nearby. He walked over to the pathway, following it will eventually lead him somewhere. It's not long until he finds himself walking towards a tall, familiar Torii gate structure. Unlike the Hakurei shrine's red, this one is pure wood, making it brown in color. Naruto restlessly steps inside the shrine territory, where he began to get a god survey of the area. The courtyard is wider and cleaner than Reimu's, facility is better than Reimu's, looks more comfortable than Reimu's and definitely not so deserted looking as Reimu's.

That shrine girl was just lazy in the first place… he just hopes the shrine girl here isn't as bad Reimu.

He walks further, deeper into the seemingly empty shrine. The wind chimes chiming as a small winter breeze brushed passed them. Naruto is now standing in front of the bell where they usually pull the rope and pray for their wishes. He's not going to do that, it's silly no matter how he sees it. There's no one here, maybe the Miko is outside or somewhere…

"Oh hello, we have a visitor?"

Naruto turned around to see who the voice belongs to. Behind him, seemingly having just entered the shrine's ground, is a girl. Of course, she is taller than him. The odd thing about her is her green hair. He may be blonde, he knew it's natural, but never in his whole life he'd ever seen someone with a green hair. The girl is wearing the same type of clothing Reimu is wearing, albeit in a different color and style. She looked fairly surprised at seeing him. Her reaction supports this predicament.

She approached the blonde, before bending down, emphasizing her voluptuous figure. This does not affect the boy, instead, he finds he curious on how could a person be walking with a pair that big. The woman gave him a warm smile, her hand patting his head. "Are you lost? Do you need help in finding where your parents are?"

.

.

.

She. Did. Not. Just.- wait… wait… this is good. Yup. This is good. If he could worm his way into her head, making her think that he's just some lost and defenseless kid, he could do all the research he wants about this shrine without getting trouble. If he were to get in trouble, he could just blame it on this bitch. Who cares? Well, here goes all his ten years of acting practice…

"Oh Onee-chan I'm scared, I was just with my mommy but I got separated from her, boo hoo…" behind the well and perfectly executed helpless expression he's making, is a smirk that could make the most diabolic and cynical man alive proud. Naruto Uzumaki is good bulshitting people up. And when he's good, he likes it.

The green haired girl made a concerned expression. "Aww you poor thing, let me help you then." She took a moment to analyze the boy further, she then gasped seeing the red area on his chest. "You're injured! You should be at the clinic, not here." If this woman has a maternal side, then this would be it.

Naruto, needless to say, is enjoying this. "No need Onee-chan, the blood is not mine. My mother was actually hurt, we were attacked by some monsters a while ago, the monster managed to rip my jacket, but my mother took the hit." He'd won the world's greatest actor award right now. "Please help me find her Onee-chan!" a lone and single tear dropped from the corner of his eyes.

Just like that, he has the woman on the grasp of his palms.

"I will search for your mother." The green haired shrine maiden declared with a firm tone. The determination in her eyes is flaring. "You can go inside and wait, but don't get lost okay?" she ruffled the blonde's hair. "What does your mother look like?"

Naruto opened his mouth.

His eyes widen.

"_I love you, Naruto."_

He closed his mouthagain, his teeth grinding against each other. He looked away, definitely troubled. "S-She has red hair… red hair…" he whispered out.

The miko nodded. "Okay, red hair, got it." The miko then takes off to the skies, with the intention to search for the boy's mother.

Naruto muttered something under his breath. He crossed his fingers into an all too familiar hand seal. A smoke burst into existence, and when it clears, it reveals an exact replica of him. The looks, the height, and even the presence. "You know what to do." He told the clone who nodded in affirmative.

"Yeah, yeah…" the clone then burst into smoke. It clears, revealing not a boy, but a woman with a stunningly beautiful feature. Her long red hair is like the color of blood itself, her eyes are purple, akin to that of a lavender plant. There is this huge gash on her stomach area, a well execute henge by the blonde ninja. The now woman transformed clone jumped away, disappearing into the tree lines in order to play his – her – act.

Naruto stood in silence. Lying to a seemingly kind woman and having forced to bring out a person from within his memories…

Today is the worst day ever.

* * *

"Alice!"

Seeing Alice Margatroid in her home wasn't all that too strange for one Kirisame Marisa. She scurried to the door frame, where her doll making friend is standing. Marisa's expression is urgent, worry dripping wet from her face. "Listen here Alice, Naruto got attacked! We need to go and help the kid, who kno-" she wasn't able to finish her statement.

"Ssh… it's okay Marisa, I… know…"Alice pressed her thin finger upon Marisa's lips. Her eyes betraying her expression. How could she do this to her own friend, best friend more over. Regardless, she has made up her mind. This is better this way.

Marisa looked surprise. "You knew!?" her voice screeched out. "Then let's go help the kid! He could be getting his ass handed to him right now!" Marisa grabbed her broom and hat, ready to barge out from the door. To the witch's surprise and shock, Alice's hands blocked the exit from her. Marisa was beyond shocked now. She's blank. An angry expression crossed her face, something that is rarely seen on her person. "What the hell Alice?! He could be dead right now! I'm not going to stay put and let a kid getting killed by some people, move it!"

Alice won't budge. Her face and head lowered, her arms firm. "I'm sorry Marisa… but it's fine." The doll maker raised her face. Long gone is the worried expression and all trace of nervousness. They were replaced by a blank and almost emotionless façade. "Naruto can take care of his own… he told me not to get you involved with him." she revealed. It was not entirely a lie. Naruto did not want anyone to be involved with this whole charade. Or soon to charade. Alice pursed her lips, her heart clenching tight. Having to lie to your best friend hurts her. It hurts her deeply.

Alice's reasoning did not calm the witch one bit. Instead, it brought up more questions. "Are you sure…?" Marisa asked slowly, still prepared to take matters at hand. She knows that the boy is secretive. Hell he's too obvious that it's easy to tell how much of a mystery he is. And just like any other person in Gensokyo, she hates mysteries. "He really is fine?"

The other blonde female nodded, her look of hurt did not disappearing. "I am. He also told me not to let you tell anyone about this." Here comes the hard part. And it's not how she'll lie, it's how she'll take in the guilt afterwards. "Naruto does not want anyone to know that he is in trouble." Alice stated before Marisa could protest. "I find that very noble of him." she did not. "So please Marisa, as a friend, I'm asking you to not tell anyone about this." She pleaded, yet it's like tasting poison on her tongue. "Pretty please?"

The black-white witch was not sure on how to respond to her friend's statement. She has mixed feelings. One part wants her to go out there and help the ninja with his problems. But another wants her to respect his decision for not wanting to get anyone else involved with the matter. Marisa was actually surprised to know that things turned out like this. Who are those people that attacked Naruto anyway? Something tells her that no Youkais are involved in any of this… she would call it fishy, but she lacks the intuition to label it so.

As a friend, Marisa could accept and respect Alice's suggestion. Alice must respect Naruto to go all the way to tell her not to butt in with whatever it is that he's dealing with. Yet Marisa's concern is still there. While she knows that the boy can handle himself – in more ways than one – she's not so sure in letting him getting all dirty by himself. It's just wrong for her. So wrong. There's nothing wrong in wanting to help someone, she knows that. But there is also a limit to where she could step. If this is as personal to Naruto as she thought it should be, then she won't do anything. But if this is serious… then she'll step in.

The ordinary witch of Gensokyo finally made her decision, unknown of the effect it might cause. "Fine. I won't do anything… but if things get outta hand…" she left the sentence hanging.

The seven colored puppeteer nodded, a smile of appreciation on her face. "Um. I'm thinking of the same thing too."

A teasing smirk made its way onto Marisa's face. She leaned in close to the doll maker's zone, elbowing her on the stomach lightly, almost as if suggesting something. "So, what made you this assertive eh? Did our little Naruto finally made a way to that cute heart of yours. Hm? Hm?"

Damn her and her antics! Alice coughed, though there's no denying the redness on her face. "S-Shut up! Says the one who's so 'concerned' enough to go and help him with this trouble of his."

The roles are reversed now, almost instantly. The witch sputtered incoherent words, denying what Alice had suggested. "I-It's not like that okay?! I-I'm just curious on how he'll deal with those people who is stalking him, okay?" Marisa stated with a huff. "It's not like I'm worried, well I am worried but… it's not that much…" her words got softer, her face growing redder.

Alice felt her eyebrows twitching for some reason. And why the hell is she pissed off at a certain ninja? Well, it's no matter. As long as she is going at it in her own pace, she's sure that things will slide over easily. Of course, that alone is easier said than done. She still has future matters to worry about, but now's not the time. Now is the time to plan. Naruto will probably return later than she expected. Looks like she has a little bit of free time for herself.

"Hey Alice," a sudden call from her friend snapped her from her thoughts. "Are you coming to the Hakurei shrine for the blossom viewing session in spring?"

Ah, the blossom viewing session, something that is done yearly at the beginning of spring. It's an event where known individuals in Gensokyo gather at the Hakurei Shrine to drink and talk or, in other words, spend their quality time together. There is a reason why the event is held at the Hakurei Shrine. Simply said, the flowers that bloomed there are considered to be mystical, even more so than the ones in the netherworld, at least what was forced to be there.

She attended some of its past events, though not as often as her witch friend. She has her research and her home is too cozy for her to leave. Alice admits that she does enjoy such events, but she could only spare so much of her time. And about Marisa's question, something tells her that she won't be looking forward to it so much this year…

"Ah… I'll think about it." She replied with a convincing smile.

"Well okay then." Marisa's face suddenly brightened up, she snapped her fingers, emitting a resounding snap. "I know! Why don't we invite Naruto too?"

CRACK

"Alice, you okay?" Marisa asked her friend in concerned. She heard this loud crack, but nothing happened. Nothing except for her friend who turned her head at her too fast for comfort.

"I-I-I'm fine… hehehe…" inwardly, she's not. The last thing she wants is for that trouble maker to cause and bring more of his trouble to the public. "S-Sure… why don't we ask him next time."

"Okay, ah! Look, I just finished a new spell here…"

Alice hoped that that boy really knows what he's doing. For both his and Gensokyo's sake.

* * *

"Sakuya, tell me… who is this fellow?"

Inside a dark, red tinted and decorated room, a childlike voice asked a second party. The atmosphere is drenched in an aura of dread, yet this person is living around just like she would with the air. The small sound of shuffling of paper and fabric could be heard, as if someone is pulling a piece of paper from their pocket.

"I'm afraid that I am unable to answer that question, Mistress." Another voice, this time more mature, elegant and soft, spoke with regret.

"Hm… I see." The first childlike voice said out in a disappointed manner. "Reimu could only tell me so much about our newest and by far the most promising residence of Gensokyo…" the clinking of glass could be heard, followed by the sound of pouring liquid. The owner of the voice was silent for a few seconds, before speaking again. "Then I guess it's only fair if I were to find out about him myself isn't it." That was not a question. It's a statement that needs an answer.

"Yes Mistress."

A cunning smirk could be seen glowing in the dark, the deep and dark tint of red provides a terrifying gradient to the pearly whites that the owner has, the sharp twin fangs that poked out from the upper jaw glinted in the dark red tinted room almost intentionally. "Fate is at play… and only few know what it is that it is playing." The voice mused on. "I want this person invited as guest to my residence, I will leave that to you, Sakuya."

The other person nodded, both in respect and honor. "Of course… Mistress Remilia."

The dark red glint that are Remilia's eyes are like the starting light for a race. It is unknown who is participating, but it is clear that there is no winner in this race…

"Naruto Uzumaki… such an interesting name. Be glad that you have attracted the attention of the Scarlet Devil herself."

* * *

"Achoo!" Naruto sneezed for the second time today. He brushed under his nose, trying to his best not to be bothered by it. "Ugh… I swear to God…"

"Oh and why would you do that?"

The blonde haired Uzumaki turned his head sideways, greeted by an unfamiliar person. It was a girl, she looks younger than him and has a blonde hair with a lighter contrast than his. She is wearing a short simple purplish-blue dress with a frog print design, large white sleeves stitched onto the torso, and a white collar. Also wears a light brown wide-brimmed hat with two frog eyes on the top and a pair of white thigh high knee socks and a pair of black shoes.

Is that hat alive…?

Naruto dismissed the thought, before putting on a bored expression. The girl is still looking at him as if she's expecting an answer. Instead of directly answering her, he shooed her away with a wave of his hand. "Move it kid, nothing for you to see here." He said to the girl with a dismissive tone.

The female hat wearing girl simply raised an eyebrow. Then, a look of realization crossed on her face. "Ah… you're an outsider… no wonder." She muttered under her breath. She crossed her little arms, the previous expression that she had on her face not disappearing. "So, what are you doing here?" it is more of a demand instead of a question.

The male blonde glared without any form of threat. He is just annoyed to know that he has a little girl who likes to butt into people's business. If that is not annoying, then he doesn't know what is. "None of your cute little head's business little girl, now move along now." Again, he dismissed her in a rather bored manner.

This irritates the girl, the vein pulsing on her… hat? Clearly shows it. She gritted her teeth, rolling up her sleeves while glaring at the taller blonde in front of her. "Why you little…" she then came to a halt, realizing something important. He is an outsider. And what does outsider wants?

Powers.

Or something like that. These random outsiders have been popping into Gensokyo lately. Some have visited the shrine, carrying their guns and swords and also their hopes of finding more superpowers. They call it superpowers, she calls it one of Yukari's toys. Still, it's quite fun seeing these little boys with their toys claiming that they will rule Gensokyo and finding their own place in the world. This boy is probably no better than them anyway, so she'll see how it goes.

"Ahem." The hat wearing girl coughed into her fist. She smiled, extending her hands sideways in an introducing manner. "I am Suwako Moriya the Goddess of this shrine." She introduced herself graciously. But in reality, there is nothing but childish are around her. "Speak to me mortal, and I shall grant you what it is that you desire."

.

.

.

"Yeah right, I'm outta here." Naruto took a three tentative steps back, before turning his body around to leave.

"Waaaait!" Suwako launched her being into the taller boy, crashing to his back. "You can't just walk off after I did my introduction okay! At least let me finish what I wanted to say!" she gripped her frame unto the boy's back, straddling him from behind. She clutched and is stuck on the boy's back, much to his irritation.

"Get off from me you troll!" he tried shaking the girl off, but it's futile. She's like a baby sloth stuck unto her mother's back. "I said get the fuck off!" he then managed to throw the girl off from him, but she manage to do a small air flip, before landing safely on her own two feet.

"Hup!" she landed on the ground, her feet straight. She then pointed an accusing finger at the boy, an angry expression booming in on her face. "Hey! What were you thinking on pulling that kind of stunt to a woman?! It's a good thing that I'm safe!" she shouted, pissed off.

"I wasn't thinking, you made me do that!" Naruto retorted, stepping forward. "And you're no woman, you're just a girl!" he took another step forward, drawing himself closer to the girl. His words and stepping of feet caused the so called Goddess to step back. "Aha, see this? You're scared, you're just a little girl!"

Naruto then stopped, crossing his arms. "Hmph, I'm leaving. I've done what I came here for. Tell the shrine girl that I'm sorry for lying to her. Bye." he disappeared into thin air in a plume of smoke and leaves, creating a mess out of the shrine grounds.

The hat wearing girl was still in shock of what happened, someone had just disappeared in front of her eyes after all. Then she regains her focus, returning to her state of awareness once again. In an instant, the look of surprise disappeared from her face, replaced with an interested one. Suwako giggled, then that giggle turned into a full grown laughter.

"Interesting… Oh I'm glad that Kanako isn't here…"

* * *

"Danzo-sama, the 13th division is ready for your orders."

"Danzo-sama, the 14th division is ready."

"Danzo-sama, the 15th division is ready for orders.

In front of him are his three most trusted generals. They are dressed in standard ROOT ANBU gear with the exception of the tattoo on their left shoulder. They are also equipped with a signature white cloak, and red scarf, symbolizing their ranks. The one standing on the most right is the leader of the 13th division, a tall and burly man with his face covered by a blank white porcelain mask. The one in the middle is a woman, shorter than the man, she has long black hair tied to a ponytail, her wakizashi strapped to her right side. She too is equipped with the ROOT uniform. The final one is a male, shorter than his two fellow generals. He has a short black hair, and a short sword strapped to his back.

Danzo stood from his throne, facing the three ROOT generals. His bandaged form is like saying that he's too old to even touch them. But to those who personally knew of Danzo's capability, they will know the real truth behind those bandages. Danzo raised both of his hands, as if saying grace. He discarded his walking cane, not needing it.

Alone, only the four of them inside this dark and soundproofed room hidden beneath Konoha itself, they are deciding the future of Konoha.

"The foundation of Konoha has weakened. It is only us, ROOT, that remains strong. If the ROOT is weak, then the tree will fall. We will stay strong, and ensure that the tree survives. As the founder of ROOT, I give you three permission to rally your own armies, group, organization to ensure the safety of Konoha. We have learned of a foreign place far different from ours, and the lives that are lost in the process of doing so will not be wasted. Muster your men, you will show this foreign continent how powerful ROOT is."

His speech ended in silence. All three generals saluted firmly. "Yes Danzo-sama!"

"Good. May you keep the foundation's vision as your own."

The three masked people disappeared into cloud.

In Gensokyo, everyone shuddered. Excluding a certain Gap Youkai…

* * *

**A/N: Du du du dun!**

**Shit just got real. ROOT is trying to invade Gensokyo? Oh yes! There will be shit ton of fighting, conspiracy, trouble, struggles and other action packed shit you guys will find out there!**

**Is Danzo an ass?**

**Will Naruto be able to keep Gensokyo safe?**

**And what of our hero's useless ability to get the interest of dangerous people?!**

**So much questions, yet much more chapters to write. I hope you all have a nice day/night!**


	7. First things first

Naruto sighed wordlessly as he trode down the moutain. The young rouge ROOT ANBU had gone through a lot ever since he entered Gensokyo. This place is so, so much different than the places he's used to. Perhaps calling it different would just be underestimating it. Naruto had also discovered problems that could potentially cause havoc in this place. And God knows that he'll do anything to stop said disaster from happening.

But in order to do so… he needs help. Not just help from some people, but help from a lot of people. And when he meant a lot, he really means a lot. Danzo has an army, his army of soldiers capable of storming countries in just a matter of days, and his army that will do anything as they are instructed to. ROOT is one tough dilemma. The more he thinks about it, the more complicated it gets. Not to mention, he must solve this whole upcoming problem without the knowledge of everyone in here.

Well, everyone, except one particular Alice Margatroid. God help that woman… to be able to stand up to him, to be able to hurt him… these… youkais are really, really strong. If they are strong, then why should he worry about this land getting overcome by little pesky humans?—if one might ask. Well, there's this certain somebody in Gensokyo, the Gap Youkai and from what he's been hearing about her, she's the real deal. The biggest bozo, the Don, the boss lady, the leader, the… yeah the point's there.

But it looks like that she is too 'occupied' for the moment, resulting him having to resort on facing this whole problem on his own. This is a real cluster fuck, and things haven't even gone to shit yet! It's at times like these where Naruto wished he never actually left ROOT. At least they didn't need him to think about stuffs like this.

The boy walked silently, his footsteps thumping above the thick layer of snow that coated the mountain's pathway. As he walked, he tried his best to ignore the cold sensation enveloping him. His jacket was torn due to today's small scuffle with the group of infiltrators, which has been taken care of by Alice by the way, and he's barely covered. The shirt his wearing, aside from being all blood soaked, is also torn from the torso level to the mid riff. His wounds are healed, but that doesn't ease him up with his current situation of trying not to freeze to death.

In the midst of walking, he wraps his arms around himself, making use of what little warmth his short yet well built body has to offer. He shivered, feeling a cold yet thankfully brief wind blowing past him. Then, in the middle of warming himself up, an idea shine upon him. He released his chakra, the seemingly intimidating vile and horrendous red chakra began seeping out from his body. His vision is clouded in red, and chains began spurting out from his back like tentacles. The chains swayed harmlessly, though it is useless to think so due to the atmosphere they give away.

The chains wrapped themselves around their host's body, like a makeshift towel to keep his body from freezing to death. As the chains finished wrapping themselves around his body comfortably, he adds a little of his fire affinity, and almost in an instant, he could feel his body temperature returning to a suitable degree. His affinity in fire is weak, probably weaker than his affinity in earth, but it's useful for purposes like these. He's not some copycat Jonin who's good at everything… dirty copycats always playing dirty…

Somewhere in a place that probably has relation to this story, a certain scarecrow sneezed.

Okay, back to business.

So, now, he decided to return and by return, he meant Alice's house. And by Alice's house, he meant base. The blonde sighed once again, this time deeper. He really, really does not want to involve that woman in this. But unfortunately, she had seen things long enough to piece them together. She's too dangerous to be kept alone. He needs to keep her under his watch and what better way than to make her join him in whatever thing it is that he'll have?

The Uzumaki chuckled. A funny thought. Him, planning? He was told that he wasn't much of a thinker in ROOT. Thinking is the other's job. He's there to fix things quick, quiet and simple. No need to think even. Of course, this way of thinking affected the mission outcome. But he could care less about that. He has no business with ROOT again. Until now at least. He doesn't know what Danzo really plan on doing, but that man has an entire freaking army under his thumb, and what kind of power hungry man wouldn't use that kind of advantage on invading a land like this?

Gensokyo's dangerous, he learned that the hard way sadly, and it'll be real shit storm if all ninjas and Youkais, shrine bitches and bratty fairies were to go against each other. Well, it'll be a mass homicide on the human's side but the point's there. In any case, he must stop Danzo's army the moment they arrived here. That's no easy thing. Danzo has good people with him. And not that kind of 'good', it's the other meaning.

All ROOT operatives are trained differently. Each of them trained by Danzo's best. He was also an instructor once and he has to admit, letting his stress on the poor trainees is a really good experience. But enough of his past in that hell hole, he really, really, need to think of something or else he'll be responsible on causing a major world—could he even call it world?—or inter dimensional war between both realms or something. ROOT's members consist of people—no, monsters that are capable of going through a shinobi's limit. He is one of the many in ROOT who is capable on overcoming his limit, with or without certain inside interference.

There's him and six others, three of them are Danzo's best generals while him and the remaining three are—excuse him, were Danzo's second in command. The reason why he left ROOT… it really pains him to remember it. But no matter, no matter how hard he tried, he just can't get over it! As he walked, the chains and red aura around him flared brighter and deadlier. Unknowingly, his rage has seeped through him, letting lose whatever negative energy he has inside of him. This caused the snow he stepped on to melt to water before eventually cooling again into ice.

If he has to face them in order to end this whole soon to be cluster fuck… may whoever up there help him.

He may be badass, but even badasses out there know when to or when not to act fucking stupid. Going against them is like going against… three Kage leveled Shinobi! He's just pissed off that a certain prodigy Uchiha isn't here anymore to settle things like this. The clinging sound that his chains made as he walk is quite an unusual sound. After all, this idea was literally just made a few minutes ago. As he walks, he is nearing the foot of the mountain. There is still a long way to go before reaching Alice's house but thankfully…

He is a ninja.

The chains around his body disappeared, sinking back into their host. Then, he did the same, he disappeared in cloud of smoke.

On second thought… maybe a bowl of ramen or two won't hurt.

* * *

"So… this is it…?"

A cold yet distant voice muttered. The voice belonged to a male, and judging from the sound, the speaker is obstructed by a face protection apparel. Or, to be precise, a mask. Before him is a view that is both familiar and alien at the same time. He had seen forests, lived in one, fought in one… but this place is not a place where he came from. This place is a strange land for him. For him and his _allies_. Standing on the tallest tree he could find, he figured that it would make a good vantage point.

His division arrived first, followed by the 14th and the 15th division. After a short yet massive briefing from their captain, they were tasked to individually start scouting the area for their V.I.P, or call sign 506. He knew better than to refer to him as 506. After all, he knew his name.

"Naruto…" the voice let out a soft whisper that is carried by the chilling wind of winter. "I'll find you." The figure jumped down from tree to tree, heading towards the small society he scouted a few kilometers ahead. Most of his division went north, figuring that they will find more people there, but he knew better than to follow them. As he jumped from trees to trees, he recalled a memory that began playing in his head.

The memory shows him and another masked individual standing on a clearing stained with blood and littered with dead bodies all around. There are scorch marks all over the place, and some small sized craters. After that, all he remembered was red. The color of death. The color of anger.

He closed his eyes, ending the memory. Opening them once again, he brought his hand to his mask, pulling the mask off and strapping it to his waist. Once the mask was off, the visage of a boy no older than fifteen comes to view. His face as pale as the moon and his eyes and hair as black as night. His expression held a mix between anxiety and alarm, it is rare for him to be showing this kind of emotion. In fact, if it weren't for his brother, he wouldn't even be able to show one.

After many minutes of tree jumping, he reached a suitable scouting location, a branch that is covered by the thick dense snow covered tree. His uniform is white, the usual black was replaced for the sake of the mission, and it blends in perfectly with the surrounding. With narrowed eyes, he scanned the place in front of him.

The place is a village, quite large yet not as big as the one back in the Elemental Nations. The village's gate are simple, two wooden gates that could be manually opened by three if not four men. And it seems to be poorly guarded too. The guard's sleeping on duty, one of them looks like he's drunk on sake. This is easy… too easy. Of course, he is aware of the dangers and threats this place poses. The reports about this foreign land is too much of a fairy tale to be called real… but that was proven to be a fact from the later reports by first group of people who were sent here to retrieve the V.I.P.

The ROOT operative's hands slowly draw closer, then he began to flash into a series of hand seals. **"Genjutsu: Nehan Shoja no jutsu."** There is no need to shout the technique's name aloud. In fact, there is no need to use it in the first place. The reason he's using the technique is because it will make it look natural for the guards to be asleep. So, even if he were to get spotted, there's no blaming him. Unless they're smart enough to figure him for the one who made these guards asleep.

He jumped down the branch, landing near the group of now asleep guards. He scaled the wall, using chakra to aid him and before he knew it, he's on the other side. _'Getting inside… success.' _Now all that's left is to get information on his target. It will be hard, knowing that his target is fully aware of the fact that they are here after him. Naruto is not dumb. He is smart, even smarter than what the blonde gave himself credits for.

He made his way outside of the alleyway he landed on, now he's entering the busy if not crowded street. From the way he's dressed, he might attract unnecessary attention from the villagers, something that he definitely doesn't want. He performed a simple henge seal, changing his attire to one that would make him blend in the picture naturally. He is dressed in a blue and purple kimono, complete with the sash or obi to keep the clothing in place. The clothing he's wearing contrasts with his place skin very well. But fortunately for him, people aren't paying attention to him.

He made his way into the crowd, blending in from crowd to crowd. He knew Naruto. And his gut instinct is telling him that he's here. He began searching, from every alley to every store, from every street to every stands… yet, there are no signs of his target. He could use chakra to find him, but that'll risk intervention from his fellow ROOT operatives. They were all given the same mission: capture Naruto Uzumaki and restrain him alive. That is the current mission given to him at the moment, but knowing what kind of person Danzo is… there is much more danger to be expected.

As he was walking into an unparticular direction, something yellow went pass him. His eyes widen in a fraction of a second. His head whipped back, it's a surprise that he managed to keep it intact. But to his disappointment, such miracles won't happen after all. Someone that isn't Naruto pass by, a woman with blonde hair. A random passerby. Sighing in disappointment, he thought that it is a waste of time to be walking aimlessly like this. If he could bring more people into this, he would. But the problem is that ROOT operatives were trained to be loyal and obedient to any order given to them.

Him? He's thankful that a certain orange loving person snapped him out of that mindset. He paused, feeling his stomach rumbling. Getting hungry on the job is normal, no matter how surprising that is. Ninjas who are about to be sent out on a mission were given time to prepare first. This includes eating. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't even given time to prepare and not to mention that he was quite busy with a painting. Looking around, he began to search for a place to eat. He needs to find a place that is rather plain and not eye catching.

His eyes settled on a place. He walked towards the place of his choice. There is no need to worry for payment. He had retrieved some earlier with a little help of transformation. These people use a currency that he has no knowledge of, so he must result on using a jutsu to advance. He went through the stall's curtain, peering from behind. The stall's fairly small, yet not so narrow. Three seats are available and only one is vacant. He took the one on the further right, leaving the seat in the middle empty.

"Ah, welcome!" the stall owner, a middle aged man, greeted enthusiastically. "What would you like to order?" he asked him. There are no menus, but he knows what the man is serving.

"I'll have a large bowl of tonkotsu ramen. And also a cup of tea." He answered the stall owner monotonously.

"Comin' right up!"

The place is rowdy due to the commotion coming from outside. He's surprised to know that this particular stand isn't crowded. Or maybe ramen isn't that popular in this place? He enjoys ramen and had the leisure of trying different types in his earlier days. It was a rather memorable experience, seeing that there is no ramen in ROOT's base. He had to sneak out in order to get some and of course, he's not alone.

"Puuah!" a satisfied gasp came from his left, or to be more precise, from the other customer. He did not even bother to look, seeing that it was none of his business. "Hey old man, give me another bowl!"

"Yer sure kid? Well, kids these days need ta grow up 'fter all!"

"Thanks old man!"

It was no longer than three minutes that his food is served. He picks up the chopsticks before breaking them, say a silent prayer, adding some extra seasoning into his bowl, before picking strands of noodles with his chopsticks. He opens his mouth, planning to eat the noodles. Then, his eyes snapped open. Slowly, his head turned to left where he is greeted by the person beside him in a similar manner.

Black eyes meet blue.

* * *

It'd been almost two hours—at least from her perspective—ever since Alice returned from Marisa's house. They chatted over a cup of tea or two, just for the sake of wasting time. Of course, she hadn't forgotten about the choice that she made earlier today. She don't like it one bit, but it's necessary to protect Gensokyo from the incoming danger that a certain potty mouthed ninja predicted. In all honesty, Alice is not ready for a responsibility this big. Because she knew that this is going to be different than the usual incident solving that she usually do with her friends.

If these people are as the way Naruto described them to be, then she needs to improve her capacity further. The few ones that were here was easy, but she's not too sure on the future ones. What she's sure of, though, is that things are going to get turned upside down later. The blonde haired doll maker paused on her knitting, her doll; Shanghai flew over to her carrying a book. It's an amazing sight, seeing magic string controlled puppets controlled and seemingly brought to life.

Shanghai then flew over to the table, placing the book that it is carrying. "Thank you Shanghai." Alice thanked the autonomous puppet, emitting an expression of joy from the doll. It was a nice and peaceful moment for the doll maker.

BAK!

"Alice! Alice!"

The teacup on her hand dropped, creating a mess that will need to be cleaned later. She immediately stood from her seat, rushing towards the door. At the door was a rare sight. There's Naruto and another man. She then notices the uniform the man is wearing, it's the same as the group of people that attacked Naruto!

Seeing the look in the woman's eyes, Naruto stepped in to prevent something troublesome from happening. "Wait Alice! It's fine, he's with me." The woman calmed down, yet the fiery look never disappears from her face. Naruto stepped forward, the black haired man behind him following in suite. "We need to discuss something important. I'll explain everything."

The puppeteer did not answer for a few seconds, soon, she nodded. "Hm… sure you will…" her yellow eyes narrowed, glaring at the newcomer hotly. "Please wait in the living room while I prepare refreshments… I'll have Shanghai accompany you." The doll appeared just as her creator requested.

"Thanks Alice." Naruto thanked his fellow blonde with a smile.

"S-Sure, just go and wait first." She then made brisk movement to her kitchen while hiding her face all the way.

Naruto stared weirdly at the woman, scratching his head in wonder. "Hm… weird. Anyway, let's go and wait for Alice." He turned and faced his company. The man is a foot taller than him, a fact that he desperately tries to ignore. He along his black haired companion made way for the house's living room. This is actually his second time inside Alice's house, yet he felt familiar with this place already. Not to mention, this is also going to be his soon to be base. Which means that planning and briefing will be done here. As soon as the both of them reached the living room, Naruto took his place and sit on the sofa. The other male took his spot on the one that is across of the blonde haired boy.

"So… tell me again, why are you here… Sai." Began Naruto slowly. He analyzed the ever so smiling boy in front of him. He is just the way he remembered him to be. Black hair, eyes, pale skin and a really absurd sense of fashion… he knew that his sense of fashion sucks but come on dude. Sai merely smiled. He did so with his eyes closed. Naruto sighed, crossing his arms. Sai is… well, Sai. Sai is someone that he knew from ROOT, a junior in fact. He'd been in missions with him, even some training sessions.

The black haired boy in front of him changed his expression almost remotely. It's rare seeing Sai being getting serious instantly. This means that things are as important as Naruto thought it would be. "Danzo is sending out men worth of three platoon just to get you out of this place, Naruto." He said.

Naruto gritted his teeth, his palms turning to fists as they clench hard enough to turn white. Anger and rage flashed in his eyes, causing them to turn red for a second before returning to their usual blue. "I knew it." His deduction was right. Danzo… that cynical fossil... the blonde haired Uzumaki turned to Sai again. "Surely, that is not all, right? I mean, if he wants me back, he could've just sent the Spec Ops, right?"

Spec Ops is a terminology used in ANBU to refer to higher ranking and better performing members. They are the elites of the elites—if one could say. The Spec Ops in ROOT and the normal ANBUs are different though, in all ways there is. These people are trained not as a human, but as a weapon. If ANBU training regime is hell, then he has no idea on how to describe the Spec Ops' training regime… he remembered seeing a training field becoming an empty wasteland of grass in the past…

"I thought the same too." Sai stated. "Danzo is no doubt planning something, but our orders now is to secure you and bring you back to base." He continued before pausing. "Our base is at a Mountain east of east of here, we've sent scouts earlier upon arrival to cover more grounds."

"A mountain…" Naruto muttered thoughtfully. And it's east of here… that means it's the mountain that he visited this morning earlier! It's a good thing that he scouted the area earlier and it's also a good thing that he didn't get spotted from ROOT scouts. The mountain seems uninhabited… except for the shrine on top of it.

"That's Youkai Mountain." Both boys' eyes are directed towards the hall, where a figure of Alice is standing near the frame with a tray in hand. "Making that place as your base is a big mistake. Don't you know that you have things in Gensokyo to worry about?" the blonde haired doll maker set the tea cups onto the table as she asked. Her eyes are glued to the newcomer's form.

"We know." Sai answered with his smile on. "That is why we immediately set out to find him," he gestured towards Naruto. "immediately. Waiting will be a waste of time and we intend to return, should there not be further plans, after we have captured Naruto." He finished explaining.

Naruto, feeling a little left out, decided to speak. "Okay, okay… I got your point. Now, about this army… did Danzo really sent an army consisting of hundreds of men just to get me out of here?" that revelation shocked Alice. She hadn't heard any of this.

Sai nodded. "Yes. There are also some extras for last resort."

"And let me guess, these… extras… are just who I think they are, aren't they?" Naruto asked.

"Yes." Sai nodded. He showed a bitter reaction, as if he's just about to taste poison. "All the Elite Seven are here."

Then, silence.

"Shit." Naruto cursed, dropping his head on the table top.

Alice was lost. She lost them at about the last minute or so. "What do you mean? Who are the Elite Seven?" she asked, not knowing the terms.

"Let me Naruto." Sai volunteered. He coughed into his fist, before explaining. "The Elite Seven are ROOT's top and finest members. Each of them are famous for their flawless records in mission…" his eyes trailed almost pitifully at Naruto's direction. "Well, almost all of them."

"Fuck you Sai… fuck you…"

"Anyway, they are also listed as the most dangerous members of the foundation. Naruto is one of them, followed by Kirin, Hattori, Issei, Jin, Lao, and Ming." He finished introducing the names. "It must be a miracle that they, excluding Naruto, are listed as back up. Should they be sent as a primary unit…"

Sai need not finish his sentence. Naruto was there to do it for him. "We'll all be fucked." He said silently, leaving a bad and uncomfortable aftermath to the mood.

Alice made a grim expression. But she steeled herself strong, not planning on being brought down by Naruto's negative attitude. She shook her head. "No. We won't. We will win this." Her eyes darted towards Sai, who stares back at her. "You, are you really not a spy sent by ROOT?" she asked. While she knows how ridiculous this is, she should at least try.

"No." Sai said flatly. There's no reading this person. He's all smiles and stoic… Alice can't trust him, but it looks like Naruto could. Then that alone means that she could trust this person. But this does not mean that he'll get away even after this whole thing is over… and if he turned out to be a snitch…

"There's no need to worry about him, woman. Sai is a trustworthy person, though you'll have to get used to his attitudes though." Naruto commented while lifting his cup of tea before chugging the entire content down his throat. It's cold outside, so having a hot cup of tea for the night is a good thing. The blonde Uzumaki sets his cup back on the table top. He changed his sitting posture into a more relaxed one.

"So…" Naruto started. "I've got a plan." Both people in the room listened. "Our main objective is to drive Danzo's men away. It's both easy and hard. It's easy because we knew what this place has to offer, you girls here are crazy after all and," Alice rolled her eyes at the remark. "it's hard because we don't plan on inviting more people to the party. Unless they can keep their lips shut. I've thought of a plan, but it'll require a lot of time and planning."

Alice suddenly speaks. "Why not just we find the ones leading the operation? If we could, surely…"

Naruto shook his head, crushing whatever hopes that are left in Alice's mind. "No. Do I need to remind you that these are not a regular army we're dealing with? Even if their leaders are killed… ROOT will still carry out their mission." Sai nodded in agreement to his senior's statement. "But that will put us to an advantage. We will then gather intel from the generals, no matter how tough of a nut they are to crack… I got something in me that'll make them talk." He flashed his grin. "Anyway, Sai I need you to keep us updated on their movements. Alice, we will still work on our side. With Sai's intel we will have more advantage on their movements."

"Roger."

"Haah… alright." Alice's eyes narrowed, aimed at her fellow blonde. "But you better remember what you promised…"

Naruto stopped his grin from existing. He simply nodded, not saying a word. Sai looked out the window. He grabbed his cup and chugging the whole content empty. "Then, I must get going. I can't stay here for too long. Oh and Naruto, I suggest you wear something to hide your face. Putting up a henge or an illusion just won't do, ROOT has upgraded their standards." Sai warned the blonde and orange wearing teen who nodded at the info. He walked his way to the front door. "Then I'll be leaving, see you in a few days." He disappeared into a cloud of white smoke.

The day is just getting harder and harder to deal with…

* * *

**The next day, morning**

* * *

"Are you really sure this is a good idea?"

"Yup."

"…I'm not one for sneaking, so please do watch over me."

"Heh, you girls are just used to shooting things to death huh?"

He earned a whack to the head for that.

"Okay, I deserve that. But come on. Sai said that they are going to do a territorial takeover on this part of the forest." Blue eyes that were once filled with mischief are now brimming to the top with seriousness. His lips thinning out into lines, Naruto did not like what he learned, not even a single bit. This part of the forest is too near to the village, and ROOT is planning to make this one of their posts. From experience, he'll say that it will only take them about two or three days to prepare a base along this perimeter.

Alice surveyed the location. What she's seeing is the western part of the Forest of Magic. She knew why Naruto is looking so tense. It's because this place is near the human village. The bamboo forest is near here too, but they have things to worry about here first instead of there. "So what do you want us to do? The enemy has yet to arrive." She asked.

"We will create an ambush." Naruto answered without missing a beat. "A surprise attack will caught the troops that are approaching here off guard, we will use that moment to get them with all we have." He paused before continuing. "They won't send their higher ranking members on this one, sans for a few captains, but they'll be easy to take care off." He shrugged his shoulders.

"An ambush?" Alice said out in disbelief. "Just the two of us? Are you sure?" don't mistake her seriousness for sarcasm. She does remember well that this is an army they're dealing with. And with the two of them, what could they do? Much less ambushing a convoy that is coming this way. The puppeteer was surprised by the sound of her fellow blonde's laughter. She looked at him irately.

"Ye of little faith." Naruto smiled. "Here they come." From the distance, even if she couldn't tell the presences that are approaching, she knows that Naruto is able to sense them even from here. She heard her companion continues his talk. "We will move along the tree lines, I've prepared traps along the way. But that means that they'll be expecting something so be prepared." He warned.

Alice summoned Shanghai and her other puppets to her side. Her hands steady to strike at any moment. They waited, seconds became minutes, staring into the seemingly endless and dark, winter woods. Naruto narrowed his eyes, though the smile did not disappear from his face. In fact, it grew into a small grin.

"Now!"

Then, all hell breaks loose.

A small earthquake shook the whole ground, then followed by explosions coming from the forest in front of them. Alice couldn't fully tell what is happening, but it must be an exact replica of hell in there. "Now Alice, let's go!" they dashed off into the dark forest, weeding out whatever is left of the convoy that are sent to survey the area.

Naruto, being the first one to charge instead of his fairer friend, released his chains and began to pulverize those who are attacking him. He ducked, avoiding a strike. His chains did his job of disposing of his attacker from his own head, but that did not end well. He sensed a spike of chakra coming from behind, someone is using a jutsu. **"Katon: Karyu Endan!"** a dragon head shaped fire bullet is aimed for him, its maw opening wide. That did not intimidate nor falter him, four of his chains charged on towards the dragon head, taking it head on. Both the chakra chains and the fire based attack clashed, in favor of the chains. The ROOT ANBU who used the jutsu suffered from multiple chains stabbing him right in his gut, then his half dead body was lifted to the air, before being torn by the chains who were wielded by the blonde rouge.

It's raining red, staining the forest's white floor with fresh and warm blood. Naruto could care less for getting messy. The blood got on his hair, clothes and even chains. The chains grew redder than ever, seemingly to have absorbed the blood that was rained upon them. In an instant, he is surrounded by twelve ROOT operatives with their swords drawn out. The blonde, who is now the perfect and literal meaning of a bloody mess, grinned. The chakra chains behind him grew in numbers, multiplying to eighteen, double of what it used to be. Like a possessed human, he disappeared from his enemies' sight, appearing behind one of them.

He pulled out his kunai, burying it into one of the ROOT ANBU's neck, he then used the same kunai to stab the masked person in the ribs, before snapping his neck into two. Three of the ROOT ANBU went for him, not intending to lose more of their comrades. Naruto greeted them with the same manner, charging straight with a bloodied kunai in hand and chains swishing like tails behind him. The first ROOT ANBU swings his chakra infused sword in a horizontal arc. The blonde swiftly ducked out of harm's way, he then jammed his kunai into the operative's thigh and his chains were there to finish him before he could even scream.

Another immediately came after Naruto was done with the first one. This time, he is using a jutsu. The operative's hands flashed into a series of hand seals, which Naruto recognized. Naruto too began to do his own seals.

"**Raiton: Dengeki!"**

"**Fuuton: Kaze no Yaiba!"**

Naruto's wind based attack clashed with the lightning bolt, it caused a ripple of air and electrical current to occur before disappearing. The chain wielding ninja used this as a chance to deliver a preemptive strike. He dashed, blurring to red and yellow. He reappeared in front of the ROOT operative in a blink of an eye. STAB! STAB! Two of his chains impaled themselves onto the operative's chest, lifting him up in the air before ripping the soon to be corpse in half.

An incoming slash was delivered, but Naruto was not careless to get hit by the attack. He swiftly shifted his body to the left, letting the blade swooshed over him. With crazy speed, he managed to break the sword whilst it was swinging down. The steel was broken into pieces, delivering splinters all over the place courtesy of Naruto's chakra enhanced fists. He gripped the sword's blade too hard that the splinters are flying all over the place. Some nearly hurt him. Without delay, he used his other hand, the one that is holding the kunai, to strike his attacker by stabbing him by the shoulders. Then comes the final blow from his chains, going through the man's brain as quick as a hot knife would do to butter.

There are eight ROOT operatives remaining. All of them are on the defensive now. Naruto is glad to know that these people know who they are dealing with… because if they don't, he'll show them who they are messing with.

On the other side of the destruction, one Alice Margatroid is currently handling herself well. She has her own army with her, the one that does not feel pain, fear and horror. She is keeping a steady pace, even counting the body count. She had just finished dealing with five of Danzo's men, five of them suffering from multiple impalement and shot wounds. Since danmaku is not effective against them, she must resort to using her magic. Her spell cards are still useful, mostly because she used them lethally.

The puppeteer is currently fending off against the remaining four men that corner her. She couldn't fly due to the trees, and they are too quick for her puppets. Though some unlucky ones did suffered. Willing for her puppets to move, she sent them zooming after the four men. The four operatives, now that they have analyzed and familiarized Alice's attack patterns, jumped back to create distance to prepare their attacks. Two of them disappeared from Alice's sight, causing her to be more alert. The two that remained flashed hand seals simultaneously.

"**Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu!"**

"**Raiton: Kangekiha!"**

The combination of water and lightning will be highly lethal for Alice. She needs to think fast.

"Huh?!" but she wasn't given the opportunity. The two ANBU who disappeared reappeared beside her, their swords swung for her head. Doing an act of pure reflex, Alice flew out of the way, taking things to the air. She crashed along some branches and leaves but it's nothing compared to getting hit with that attack earlier. This allows her to catch a small brea—SWOOSH! Or not. Alice tilted her head to the sides to avoid incoming kunais, while they can't reach her here, that doesn't mean that they can't make her land. She needs to land anyway, there is a limit to how long a battle like this could last.

She flew down, her puppets armed with spears behind her. "Hyaah!" she released the puppets to rain down from the skies, hopefully getting all of them. But her chances were slimmed down due to a volley of fireballs aimed at her. Using her hardened instinct, Alice dodges the incoming fireballs like what she would do a danmaku, some of her dolls are burnt, but most still remains. The puppets soon disappeared into the forest, Alice hoped that all of her attackers are dead or injured. But she was not granted such miracles.

Immediately upon landing, Alice was greeted by a sword aiming for her head. She bent backwards out of pure reflex, one of her puppets came soaring through with a spear at hand. The spear managed to pierce through the man's sides, giving Alice the chance to sweep the man's legs. The man fell, and his life was ended courtesy of another puppet that rammed its spear onto his head. Alice scanned the area, careful not to be taken by surprise. The last thing she wanted was for her to be caught unaware, she'll be dead if it were to happen. These people are good… though they are not quite as to this place's standard. If Naruto was strong because of what training these people had gone through… she shuddered at the thought of meeting the Elite Seven.

She heard rustling coming from the bushes and trees nearby her, yet she can't pinpoint where it is coming from. More sounds were emitted, all of them seemingly to come from all directions. Now she is being lead around by her auditory sensor, her focus being kept busy. Steel glimmered in the dark, then came for Alice. "Gurk…!" a sharp, cold and painful sensation invaded her. She could not hear the sounds that were disturbing her earlier, all she could feel is the sharp and cold sensation of steel being embed onto her gut. She coughed out blood, splattering them to the ground. She gritted her teeth, not used to feeling this amount of pain. The ANBU in front of her did not live long to see her struggle, a doll came soaring with a spear before shoving the weapon on the back of his head, shattering the mask by piercing right through his skull.

Alice fell to the ground, panting and heaving. She coughed out more blood, she's bleeding more and more. She closed the wound to prevent more blood lost by applying pressure to it with one of her hand. But she can't rest easy, there is still three more to worry about. She should've be healed by now due to her regeneration, but the wound was too deep and her regeneration isn't as fast as Naruto's. she gritted her teeth in frustration over her own mistake. If she were to act as a liability… then she would be eating her own words against Naruto.

The woman was surrounded once again by shadows who swooped down to scene, which was revealed to be the remaining three ROOT operatives. All three of them rushed towards her, ready to end her life. Alice stood strong, she summoned three puppets behind her before letting them loose. The three masked men were too skilled to be killed by the dolls, they managed to cut the dolls to get their way to her. Alice closed her eyes, preparing to take the hit.

"**Uzumaki: Kusari."**

SPLRRRCH!

A sickening and bone shivering sound emitted right in front of her. The fact that she is closing her eyes seemed to have made the sound more and more audible. Alice then opened her eyes, they went wide the instant they see what lies before them. Blood soaked chains are lifting three screaming men by impaling them right in their chests, their screams of agony are loud and clear in the ears. But what terrifies her is not the sight of the grotesque or brutal scene, but the one who did it. She had never seen a person soaked in blood before, she knew that that vampire loves blood, but she knew that she did not bathe in it. But here in front of her is her fellow blonde covered with the strong smelling and red colored liquid from head to toe. Behind him are his chains, they are still impaling while lifting the three men at the same time. Then he launched the three corpses off to the distance, he approached her.

"Are you okay?" Naruto, who is covered in blood and grime asked. His eyes then wandered down to Alice's abdomen area. "You're injured… a deep one too. Must be a chakra enhanced wound right there." He concluded while muttering to himself. He looked around, before crossing his fingers into a hand seal. "Kagebunshin no Jutsu." Clouds appeared beside him and four blood covered copies of himself appeared into existence. "I want you guys to clean the scene, make sure as if nothing ever happened."

"Hai." Four consecutive affirmatives coming from the four clones before they disappear. Naruto approached Alice as she was about to fall. He held her by the arm, using his shoulders to support her. "Hey, you okay?" he received a moan in reply. "We will return back, our job's done here." Then, the two of them disappeared into smoke.

"Hm… interesting…" in the shadows of darkness, blanketed by the darkest shadows, a figure stands observing the whole entire scene that was happening before. Her eyes reflecting the color of the grey clouds, she stood elegantly with a dignified aura around her. "Mistress would like to know what happened here…"

Then, time stops.

Then, time resumes. And she was nowhere to be found.

* * *

**A/N: WOW!**

**Sorry that this took a while, I've been busy with real life the past few weeks. I was real busy, and I meant real. I was busy with school, part time jobs, and other unimportant things that you guys have no need to know. Anyway, regarding this chapter, I was actually planning to introduce Sai later in the series, but I thought that it's best to introduce him now since I planned on the later chapters being more on the crisis point of this story.**

**It's safe to say that more and more characters will be introduced from this point onwards, both from NARUTO and Touhou. **

**I'm sure that all of you know who that last person was. If you don't, then God help you. **

**Oh, interesting news, I will be updating my Good end theater again. The next chapter is almost done, so please do wait for it.**

**Well, that's all for today, hope ya'll have a good day/night! **


End file.
